Cubs BCB After Dark: Cubs acquire David Peterson
Jun 15, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; New York Mets relief pitcher David Peterson (23) pitches against the Cincinnati Reds in the seventh inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | Katie Stratman-Imagn ImagesIts Wednesday night here at BCB After Dark: the coolest spot for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Thank you for taking time out to visit with us. We always like to see a friendly face. Theres no cover charge. We still have a few tables available. The hostess will seat you now. Bring your own beverage.BCB After Darkis the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.Last night, I asked you about a proposed trade for Tarik Skubal. The deal, which sent four players to Detroit, was considered too rich for your blood as 84 percent of you said you wouldnt make that deal.The Cubs did make a deal for a starting pitcher tonight and its not Tarik Skubal. Well get to that in a little bit.Heres the part with the jazz and the movies. Youre free to skip ahead if you want. Or skip the baseball stuff at the end. Youre free to read this however you want.Tonight were featuring legendary vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater singing Bye Bye Blackbird in Berlin in 1997.Ive been watching a lot of World Cup games this past week, so Ive only had a chance to watch one film: director Gary Hustwits 2024 documentary Eno on former Roxy Music member, ambient music pioneer and producer to much of the great music of the last 50 years, Brian Eno. Oh, hes also famous for being a crossword puzzle clue. I could write about Eno tonight, but for reasons that will become clear when I do write about it, I really need to see it at least twice before writing on it. And I cant watch it again until next weekagain, for reasons that will become clear when I do write about it.If anyone has seen Eno somewhere other than on the Criterion Channel, I want to know about it. Preferably before I write about it.So I thought Id just throw things open to you right now, in honor of the World Cup, for you to talk about your favorite non-baseball sports movies. Weve gone over baseball movies lots of times and honestly, I dont think any sport works as well on the screen as baseball, with the possible exception of boxing. But there are good non-baseball sports movies. Slap Shot is one of my favorite films. Hoop Dreams is a documentary, but its a great movie. Its been quite a while since Ive seen Raging Bull, but I need to see that film again. I loved it the first time I saw it back in the eighties. So if you want, share some of your favorite sports films, not baseball edition. Im pretty confident most of you will list Space Jam, but we will see.Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies.I dont have to tell you that the Cubs have had major issues with injuries to the starting rotation. The bullpen has taken their hits too, but the Cubs have lost Cade Horton for the season, Jameson Taillon a few weeks ago for at least two months and Edward Cabrera and Ben Brown went to the injured list today. Matthew Boyd has been out months and is only making his return tomorrow/today. So the Cubs need a starting pitcher and they made a move for one tonight.Trade news: The Chicago Cubs are acquiring left-hander David Peterson from the New York Mets, sources tell ESPN. Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 25, 2026Later reports have the Cubs sending corner infielder Cole Mathis to the Mets for Peterson. Theres a lot to unpack there. Peterson has been a Met throughout his entire career and last year he made the National League All-Star team. That was mostly because he was 6-4 with a 3.05 ERA in the first half of 2025.Peterson kind of fell off a cliff in the second half of 2025, putting up a 6.34 ERA in 12 starts. This year, Peterson has lost his spot in the Mets starting rotation as he sports a 6.09 ERA in eight starts and eight relief appearances.However, there is reason to think that Peterson could be much better with the Cubs than that with the Mets. The Cubs desperately need starting-pitching help, and they'll get a big leaguer in Peterson who has a 6.09 ERA this season. He's got a 3.85 FIP, however, and 51.1% groundball rate and going from the Mets' infield defense to the best-in-MLB Cubs' could be huge for Peterson. Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 25, 2026Petersons walk percentage is slightly up this year and his strikeout percentage is slightly down. However, the difference in the two is small enough (9.0% to 9.4% and 20.7% to 19.7%) that that could just be random fluctuation. Hes not a hard-thrower, but theres been no drop in velocity on his pitches this year. His hard-hit rate is down as well as the average velocity hes giving up on balls in play.In fact, it seems that the Mets crappy infield defense might be a huge reason for Petersons struggles this year. Youve seen that terrible defense this week as the Cubs play the Mets and Peterson is the kind of pitcher who needs his defense to make plays behind him to be effective. His batting average on balls-in-play has jumped from .293 in 2024 and .316 last year to .350 this year. His strand rate is way down this year as well. Maybe hes just not pitching as well with men on base, but with a veteran like Peterson, it seems more likely that its just random chance. Or the Mets crappy defense again. In any case, while Petersons ERA this year is a poor 6.09, his FIP is a very solid 3.85. With that ground ball rate, Peterson seems exactly like the type of pitcher to benefit from the Cubs elite defense.Peterson is a free agent at the end of the year, so this is a rental.Going the other way is corner infielder Cole Mathis, 22, the Cubs second-round pick in 2024. Mathis is currently on the injured list, where hes spent much of his professional career. Mathis had Tommy John surgery in 2024 and wasnt able to make his pro debut until the next season. There he was limited to being a DH and even then, only managed to play 29 games in 2025 before the Cubs shut him down until the Arizona Fall League. He was able to play first base in the AFL this past winter.This year, Mathis has played 39 games between Myrtle Beach and South Bend and has hit .272/.396/.585 with ten home runs. As you might expect, his numbers are much better in Low-A Myrtle Beach and seven of his ten home runs were hit there in almost half as many games.As you can see from those numbers, Mathis is a solid hitter. He makes a lot of hard contact, mostly on a line. He can draw a walk and doesnt strike out too much. The Cubs took him in the second round because theres nice right-handed swing there and some real promise that he can make consistent hard contact.However, despite the Cubs still insisting that Mathis is a third baseman, hes only played five games there in his entire professional career. Hes also had trouble staying healthy. Hes a player with some real upside in that he could develop into an average major league hitter with average power, but that theres some real risk that hes limited to being a first baseman, where 50 tools on hit and power arent going to cut it. Maybe he could be better than that as a hitter. Theres always a chance that a player who makes that kind of contact might have a higher ceiling than that. But theres also a real chance that Mathis never stays healthy enough the have a major league career, like former Cubs second-round pick Brennen Davis, who was a far more promising prospect than Mathis.Baseball America ranked Mathis as the Cubs 9th-best prospect and MLB Pipeline had him at 13. I put him at nine in my offseason rankings, but I did note that there was a real drop-off after eight in my rankings and that 9 through 18 or 19 could be in almost any order. So what do you think of the David Robertson trade?Thanks for stopping by tonight. Were all in a pretty good mood. I hope you didnt get in too good a mood and overdo it. Please get home safely. Call a ride if you need to. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip the waitstaff. And join us again next week for more BCB After Dark.
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