MILWAUKEE – David Peterson was an All Star last season.
But ever since his trip to the Midsummer Classic, it’s been a lot of poor results for the lefty pitcher, who the Cubs acquired in a Thursday trade with the Mets.
After posting a 3.06 ERA before the break last year, he had a 6.34 ERA in the second half and has struggled to a 6.09 mark this season.
Saturday, for the first time in his decade-long pro career, he’ll be pitching for an organization other than the Mets, getting dropped into a battle for the NL Central as he makes his Cubs debut in Wisconsin.
It will be a new look for Peterson, with the Cubs hoping the change will do him good.
“There’s some aspect of this [being] a change of scenery,” Cubs skipper Craig Counsell said before Friday’s game. “We all can acknowledge that sometimes a change of scenery is a good thing.
“When things aren’t going well, sometimes a fresh start is something that can reenergize you, refocus you and hopefully get you to a good place. Hopefully, we can provide that.”
The big talking point in the wake of the deal – a long-gestating move that came to fruition once the Cubs gained urgency after righties Edward Cabrera and Ben Brown hit the injured list earlier this week – was that an infield stocked with Gold Glovers should greatly benefit Peterson, who has one of the higher ground-ball percentages in baseball.
Watching Mets infielders commit one error after another during the Cubs’ four-game sweep in Queens gave that argument some weight.
But even without digging into the specific differences between his new club and his old one, sometimes all it takes is a new logo to force a reset.
“When I was there, my whole goal and focus was to help the Mets win games. But I do think there is something to [the change-of-scenery thing],” Peterson said. “I’ve seen it with other guys, I’ve seen it with friends in the game, where they’re stuck in a rut or stuck in a spot that they’re not necessarily enjoying, and they go somewhere else and have a lot of success.
“That’s part of what gets me excited about this opportunity [along] with also joining a great team. … It’s definitely a thing.
“It wasn’t necessarily a thought of mine in New York of hoping for a change. I was committed to where I was at, just like I am now, committed to being here and helping these guys win.”
The Cubs need Peterson to deliver, not to justify parting with a former second-round draft pick in the trade but to stabilize a pitching staff ravaged by injuries.
If the Cubs are going to make it to a point where Jed Hoyer’s front office is seeking bigger upgrades to bolster a championship contender, they’ll need contributors like Peterson to help keep things afloat until the trade deadline gets closer.
That starts with results that are a lot better than what he produced in the last six months of baseball.
“You’re always trying to get better every day,” he said. “I went through some things early in the year that we needed to clean up and feel a lot better about where we’re at now, feel like myself back in ‘24, ‘25.
“It’s baseball. You’re going to go through waves. You’re trying to get better every single day and continue to hammer the good feels and mechanics and continue to do your homework and scouting on the guys you’re going to face.
“My goal is to be prepared every five days when I take the ball and give this team a chance to win.”