A career-high 10 earned runs in 2.2 IP of Saturday’s 15-3 loss at the Phillies brought Mets right-hander Freddy Peralta to a 5-6 record and 4.83 ERA through 16 starts with New York.
“Before today, it probably wasn’t that terrible,” he said of his first season with the Mets, who acquired him and right-hander Tobias Meyers in a late-January trade from the Milwaukee Brewers for shortstop Jett Williams and right-hander Brandon Sproat. “But today’s not good.”
Peralta recorded the game’s first two outs before Bryce Harper, who hit for the cycle in just five innings, blasted a two-run solo shot to right-center field and put the Phillies (41-35) on the board.
A two-run second inning followed, and the Mets went down by 11 after an eight-run frame in the third.
Peralta threw 52 strikes on 80 pitches while striking out two and walking one, battling command issues as the Mets (34-42) were tasked with working from behind in counts.
“I don’t know,” Peralta said of how he rebounds. “Just moving forward from this one and getting some work and make the adjustment.”
However, Peralta is “not worried about” his standing at this point in the season with time to mount a turnaround.
“I’m not worried about it,” Peralta said. “Of course I don’t feel good right now, but I’m not worried about it.”
How does Mets manager Carlos Mendoza plan to help Peralta get there?
“The same way we did it with Sean (Manaea), the same way we did it with Nolan (McLean),” Mendoza said. “He’s too good of a pitcher. I mean, this is a guy that, when you look at his track record, he’s been one of the best pitchers in the game. He’s going through a little bit of a rough stretch here.
“But if somebody’s able to bounce back after bad outings, it’s a guy like Freddy. He’s a competitor. He’s a guy that’s going to come back the next day and look for ways to get better and improve, and that’s what we will do.”
This month has been mixed for Peralta, who started it with one run allowed on six hits in six innings of the Mets’ 7-1 win at the Seattle Mariners June 3.
He surrendered six runs on six hits June 9, a 7-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, before rebounding with one run allowed on four hits in five innings of this past Sunday’s 8-1 win over the Atlanta Braves,
“Just focusing on the good things and just trying to come back and feel like myself and forget about the past and just moving forward and try to become who I really am and take it that way and just finish that way through the season,” Peralta said.
“I think I’ve been a little inconsistent, but I have time to be better,” Peralta added.
Like Peralta, the Mets enter the month’s final week seeking consistency. They have not won three straight games or more since a four-game streak May 27-31, and their 8-9 mark in June has kept them from sustaining momentum.
“I mean, that’s the key, right?” Mendoza said. “That’s why we’ve been having a little bit of a hard time here, trying to get some winning streaks. But they’re too good. They’re talented. We’ve got to be able to figure this out.
“We’re going to need them and, when they get going here, when need them to get going pretty soon. That’s when you start putting together some consistent winning baseball. So, again, they’re talented, but we expect — and they expect — more out of them.”
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