NEW YORK -- The Chicago Cubs acquired veteran left-hander David Peterson from the New York Mets on Thursday in a rare trade between clubs in the middle of a series despite his 6.09 ERA this season for a simple reason: They need healthy starting pitchers.
Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Thursday that he began discussing Peterson with the Mets about six weeks ago as Chicago dealt with injuries to its starting rotation. The desperation level escalated Wednesday when the club placed Edward Cabrera and Ben Brown on the injured list.
"We had been talking to them back and forth, and I think that happens a lot of times with deals that you know you're circling a player or a concept, there's not a lot of urgency to do it," Hoyer said. "You sort of talk and all of a sudden we had more urgency to do it once Cabrera and Brown went down."
Matthew Boyd was activated from the injured list to start Thursday's game -- he logged 4⅔ scoreless innings in his first start since April 27 as the Cubs completed a four-game sweep with a 4-3 win in 10 innings -- but Chicago still has five starting pitchers sidelined after Cabrera's and Brown's setbacks. Cabrera was carted off the field Tuesday because of a hamstring strain. Brown, who missed most of last season because of a strained neck, was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his neck and will be shut down for weeks, Cubs manager Craig Counsell said.
"He's disappointed," Counsell said. "I think the last time there was more ambiguity on what's wrong here. I feel like he knows what's wrong. I think hopefully we can proceed in a more clear path because of that. But he's also concerned that this has happened twice."
Counsell said Peterson is expected to join the team postgame Thursday for the flight to Milwaukee. Colin Rea will start Friday's series opener against the Milwaukee Brewers. Peterson will make his debut with the club either Saturday or Sunday.
Peterson, a free agent after the season, had been the Mets' longest-tenured player. The organization selected him in the first round of the 2017 draft. He made his major league debut with the club three years later. The Mets are all he's known, and Counsell said he sensed the news was difficult for him to process when he talked to him on the phone Thursday morning.
"Nobody tells you when you're going to be traded," Counsell said. "They call you into the office or they call you on the phone and say you've been traded. That's the warning you get. That's shocking news for anybody. I think he's feeling the effects of that, and that takes a little while."
On the other side, the Mets saw the 30-year-old Peterson emerge from a major hip surgery to become an All-Star last season before struggling down the stretch and continuing those struggles this season. The groundball specialist had a 2.83 ERA through 21 starts in 2025. Since then, he owns a 6.98 ERA in 17 starts and eight relief appearances.
But the Cubs believe their defense will boost Peterson, who has a 3.85 FIP despite the ugly results this season. Chicago leads the majors in Outs Above Average while the Mets, who have committed eight errors over the last two games, rank 20th.
"He throws strikes, keeps the ball on the ground, which is something we haven't done particularly well," Hoyer said. "And just felt like with our defense, he felt like a pitcher that there was upside there. We do field groundballs really well, and he's really good at that. And hopefully we can help him that way."
The Mets had decided to move Peterson to the bullpen after his rough start Sunday against the Philadelphia Phillies. He was scheduled to pitch after an opener Friday against the Phillies, but team officials, led by president of baseball operations David Stearns, determined he didn't fit as a reliever after Kodai Senga's struggles prompted the team to also move him to the bullpen this week.
"We've been through the ups and downs," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. "Seen him have success. Made the All-Star team. Seen him struggle a lot and how he handled it. But it got to a point where we needed the flexibility on the roster.
"Talking to David, we already have Kodai in the pen, and to continue to have starters in the bullpen is just not going to be sustainable. So there was an opportunity to make a deal and move forward."
The last-place Mets are desperate to move on from a disastrous stretch in a disastrous season that touched rock bottom Wednesday when they dropped a doubleheader to the Cubs, with the infield committing six errors in the nightcap, and continued Thursday with their sixth straight loss. They've allowed 56 runs during the skid, which has dropped them to a season-high 13 games under .500.
"It's a frustration," Mendoza said Thursday night after two Mets errors in the sixth inning led to three Cubs runs. "I wouldn't call it tightness. I'll just say guys are struggling. But it's just they're pissed, they're frustrated."
Mendoza's club absorbed another blow Thursday when the Mets placed second baseman Marcus Semien on the injured list because of a left hip flexor strain, though Juan Soto returned to the lineup after exiting Tuesday's game with back tightness. They hope he can fuel a turnaround that is getting less likely by the day.
The Mets will begin a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday 15 games behind the first-place Atlanta Braves in the National League East and 9½ games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the final wild-card spot. They're running out of time before the front office decides Peterson isn't the only veteran they need to move by the Aug. 3 trade deadline and hits the reset button on the second-most expensive roster in baseball.
"That's the reality, especially if we don't start playing better," Mendoza said. "Obviously, we gotta be honest here. But we can't be thinking about what if. Our job is to do what we need to do now. So, for me as a manager, for the players, we need to take care of business on the field."