Mets’ pick gets taste of N.Y. in B’klyn

The newest Mets pitching prospect has kept close tabs on a few different hurlers around the league, but his biggest baseball influence? A certain ex-Yankee shortstop. David Peterson — the No. 20 overall pick in last month’s draft — displayed some of his role model Derek Jeter’s deft handling of the media at MCU Park in Coney Island Saturday afternoon. “I always loved to watch Derek Jeter. I liked the way he handled himself,” the 21-year-old lefthander said. “Regardless of position, on the field and off the field, he was doing the right things.” The young southpaw is eventually looking to do the same, albeit in Flushing, for a team that maintained its strategy of investing in experienced college pitchers through the draft. But he’ll get his start in Brooklyn with the Cyclones, where he’ll be under the tutelage of ex-Met Edgardo Alfonzo. After an 11-4 (2.51 ERA) season in his junior year at Oregon, Peterson declared for the draft for a second time. He had been picked by the Red Sox in the 28th round in 2014 but decided to go to college to improve his stock. The lefty finished his final season No. 2 in the nation in strikeouts and wins and was a first-team All-American.

“I think the last three years have been three years of development for me,” Peterson said of his tenure with the Ducks. “I think going to college was huge for me as a player and a person.”

Now he joins a Mets organization that has seen both the positives and perils of building from the ground up with pitching. Their disappointing first half of the 2017 season was due in large part to the crushing losses of ace Noah Syndergaard and Matt Harvey, and the late starts of Steven Matz and Seth Lugo. That 2015 World Series run seems a distant memory.

But Peterson isn’t considering the recent rash of injuries that has wrecked the staff. He’s focused on someday making an impact in that rotation and is thrilled to join a club that is crafted around young arms.

“Being in an organization that embraces pitching and wants to have really good pitching is exciting and encouraging for me,” he said. “I definitely am happy that the organization likes to take care of their pitchers.”

According to his profile on Scout.com, Peterson’s biggest area of concern is command. At 6-foot-6 and 240 pounds, he has the body type the Mets are looking for and his pitches show good movement, but he hasn’t yet learned how to control his body. That’s something that can come with his development in the minors, though, and Peterson is anxious to get to work.

“This is where I’m starting my career and I’m super excited to be here and be in uniform,” he said.

“I’m chomping at the bit to get out there and pitch again.”