University of Oregon
Stanford
Peterson Takes The Ball Friday At PK Park
04/21/17 | Baseball, @GoDucksMoseley
Oregon's junior left-hander, who has some of the best numbers in the NCAA and is a potential first-round draft pick, faces Stanford on Friday at PK Park at 6 p.m.
David Peterson is throwing well enough to enter the conversation about the best seasons by a pitcher in the storied career of UO baseball coach George Horton.
Oregon's junior left-hander is also becoming a bright blip on the radar screens of Major League Baseball draft scouts. That means he may only have a handful of appearances left at PK Park, must-see events for fans of the Ducks.
Peterson, a national player of the year candidate who leads the Pac-12 in wins and strikeouts, is scheduled to take the ball for the Ducks when they host Stanford on Friday at 6 p.m, one of just four conference series left on the schedule at PK Park this season.
"He's worth the price of admission," UO catcher Tim Susnara said. "He's throwing really well, and it's a tribute to how hard he always works. It's why he's a leader on the team."
Peterson, a 6-foot-6 native of Denver, has harnessed his talents to eye-popping effect this spring. Coming off a summer playing for the USA Collegiate National Team, and thriving under new UO pitching coach Jason Dietrich, Peterson enters this weekend 8-1 with a 1.85 ERA, and 82 strikeouts against just five walks.
His victory total and strikeout-to-walk ratio (16.4:1) are best in the NCAA. Peterson is also third nationally in strikeouts, fifth in walks per nine innings (0.77) and 11th in strikeouts per nine (12.65).
"I hate to jinx him, but yeah, his numbers are crazy," Horton said.
Peterson always had the talent to be a staff ace. He led the Ducks with nine quality starts as a freshman in 2014, and posted a 3.63 ERA in 13 starts as a sophomore. But that barely hinted at the success he's enjoyed this season.
After a loss in his first start of the season, Peterson is unbeaten since. In March, he went a ridiculous 5-0 with a 0.50 ERA in five starts. He struck out 57 and walked two, earning national player of the month honors from the NCBWA. He was named a midseason all-American by the website Perfect Game, and made the midseason watch list for the Golden Spikes national player of the year award.
On Thursday, Baseball America published an MLB draft projection in which Peterson was the 26th pick of the first round, to the Texas Rangers. The projection noted that Peterson had "pitched his way into the first round" this spring, and might be the top collegiate left-hander available.
Horton said Peterson is a more mature, confident pitcher since his Team USA experience. And he's been better able to repeat his mechanics under the tutelage of Dietrich.
"The biggest thing we worked on was getting my body over my front leg, and staying balanced and on line," Peterson said. "The thing for me was doing it in catch play, and really focusing on being on line, having my foot land in the same spot. It carried over into bullpens, which carried over into games."
Peterson has always had electric stuff. Now he's harnessing it, with spectacular results.
"You always have to stay focused with him, because his ball has so much movement," Susnara said. "But there's times he breaks off a really good slider or curveball and a guy doesn't swing, and it's like, 'Are you kidding me? How do you not swing at that?' It looks like a perfect strike, and just breaks at the last second."
Horton said any list of the top pitchers he's coached would have to include 1995 all-American Ted Silva and 2004 College World Series most outstanding player Jason Windsor from Cal State Fullerton, and also Tyler Anderson, Alex Keudell and a host of talented relievers at Oregon. But Peterson is fast pitching himself into the conversation, by anchoring a UO staff otherwise lacking consistency.
Raised by his mom after the untimely passing of his father, Peterson was mature beyond his years as a freshman, Horton said. But that's only become more so in the past year, as Peterson has learned how to harness his emotions on the mound.
"He's always been a competitive bugger," Horton said. "But his ability to take that competitive nature and repeat, and not get out of whack or out of rhythm, and have his delivery repeat itself, has equated to that walk-strikeout ratio."
It's becoming a season for the books by Peterson for the Ducks. There are only a few chapters left that will take place at PK Park, beginning Friday night against Stanford.
