How Can David Peterson Help the Cubs?
The Chicago Cubs kicked off their midseason acquisitions on Wednesday by bringing in left-handed pitcher David Peterson from the Mets.
A move from the front office felt likely after both Edward Cabrera and Ben Brown were put on the injured list during the most recent series in New York.
Peterson, a former All-Star, provides the Cubs with much-needed depth after the injuries continue to pile up.
David Peterson was selected to his first career All-Star game last year, but has struggled so far this season.
He currently has an earned run average slightly under six through roughly seventy-three innings pitched, so how can he help the Cubs?
Defense
The Cubs pride themselves on their defensive abilities. In both the infield and outfield, the Cubs have Gold Glove winners all around the diamond. This helps Peterson because his pitching style produces lots of ground balls. Since 2024, he has had a groundball percentage in the 85th percentile or higher. That means there are a lot of opportunities for the infield behind him to make plays. For the squad that has been behind Peterson this season, they have around a negative nineteen net Outs Above Average and two Gold Gloves. It is the polar opposite for the Cubs; they have twenty-five net Outs Above Average and five Gold Gloves.
This can be seen in Peterson’s FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) and ERA at the time of the acquisition. His FIP was at 3.85, which is extremely lower than his ERA of 6.09. The large discrepancy indicates that part of Peterson’s high ERA has been out of his control. But with the elite Cubs defense, Peterson’s earned run average may decrease quite a bit. The underlying statistics and the Cubs’ infield accolades point to Peterson’s success in a Cubs uniform.
Getting the Deal Done
The other notable part of this acquisition is the front office taking swift action in getting a deal like this done. Teams usually make trades closer to the trade deadline in early August, but the Cubs elected to make a move before July. The lack of depth called for a move sooner rather than later, but it also points to the front office’s belief in this team. They are in the middle of a playoff race, currently six and a half games back from the Brewers in the National League Central and in sole possession of the second Wild Card spot.
The front office doesn’t want the chances of the postseason to flee because of injuries to the pitching staff. With moves like this made in June, Cubs fans could be in for an exciting trade deadline. That is, assuming the Cubs continue to succeed until then.
Bringing in a guy like David Peterson is a smart move for this club. He has had success in the big leagues before and is projected to post better statistics than he has now.
This was seen in his first start with the Cubs, Peterson threw five and two-thirds innings of two-run baseball.
With that debut performance against one of the best teams in baseball, it looks like the Cubs front office may have been right about Peterson!
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