David Peterson (SP, NYM) - Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues

OWNED IN: 16% of leagues

ANALYSIS: David Peterson made his Major League debut this season despite having never pitched in Triple-A and only reaching Double-A last year. He does come with some pedigree as Peterson was the Mets first-round pick in the 2017 draft and dominated in Single-A with a 1.82 ERA in his nine starts. He was promptly promoted to High-A where he struggled a bit (4.33 ERA in 13 starts) and his full 2019 season in Double-A wasn't exactly jaw-dropping either with a 4.19 ERA in 24 starts.

Peterson has made four starts for the Mets in 2020, culminating in a 3-1 record, 2.91 ERA and 1.15 WHIP. Importantly for leagues counting wins, Peterson has pitched through five innings in all of his starts. Statcast does have Peterson as a middling performer, one who ranks between the 50th and 60th percentile in expected average (xBA), expected ERA (xERA) and expected slugging percentage (xSLG). His strikeout numbers aren't great (17 Ks in 21.2 IP) which isn't surprising as he has a 8.8% K/9 rate in the Minors. Peterson does induce groundballs at a high-rate and had the third-highest groundball-rate (64.5%) across all Minor League baseball in 2018 and while his ERA likely won't stay below 3.00 for much longer, Peterson is at least a viable streamer and worth rostering in 12+ team leagues where you can pick and choose when to start him.