At Shea Baseball, Brad Goldberg discusses why he believes that the Mets' not-so-secret weapon, pitching coach Rick Peterson, is the reason why Omar Minaya has such faith in the myriad of pitchers he has compiled this off-season. Goldberg writes:
In 2006 Peterson showed Mets fans why he is considered one of the best in the business. In the rotation, we saw Peterson help Tom Glavine and Orlando Hernandez revitalize their careers (he will have a similar task with Pedro Martinez come all star time this season). We saw him turn John Maine from a mid-level prospect to a solid number three guy.
Goldberg also has some strong points on Peterson's effectiveness with newcomer Oliver Perez.
I agree that Peterson did a great job playing chess with this staff in '06, and if he can get Oliver Perez to live up to his potential I will have even more faith in the guy.
However, who knows how improved Guillermo Mota became thanks to steroids, and I wouldn't say that Tommy's consistently good career was revitalized, but I do believe that Peterson is good at tapping the potential in a player, and I hope he continues to do so.
The Sporting News
