Former Emerald Ridge pitcher called up to big leagues

Former Emerald Ridge High School pitcher Tim Peterson was called up by the New York Mets on Wednesday.

The 27-year-old right-hander, who has impressed as a late-game reliever with Triple-A Las Vegas this season, will join the Mets for their Wednesday night game in Atlanta.

Peterson has never appeared in a major-league game.

"I'm just excited to be here," he told reporters in Atlanta on Wednesday afternoon. "It's good to see all of these guys. I mean, it's just a dream come true right now."

Peterson said he wasn't expecting to be called up, depsite New York's ailing bullpen.

While getting ready to travel with the 51s to Reno on Tuesday night, manager Tony DeFrancesco told Peterson he'd be heading east instead.

"I was just at home last night packing up," Peterson said. "We were heading on a road trip to Reno, and manager Tony D. called me and told me they wanted me (in Atlanta), so I packed up and went straight to the airport."

Peterson leads the 51s this season with seven saves, while posting a 3.58 earned run average in 28 2/3 innings and striking out 40.

He has allowed 11 runs on 19 hits with Las Vegas, with opponents batting just .179 against him, and said attacking hitters and pounding the strike zone has helped him find consistent success this season.

"My change-up has been really effective for me this year," Peterson said. "I've been using that, and more of my slider than I have in years past. So I've been able to get guys out that way."

Peterson joins Michael Conforto, a Redmond High School product, as the only other Washington native currently on the Mets' roster.

Peterson was drafted by New York in the 20th round in 2012 out of the University of Kentucky, and has bounced around the organization's minor-league clubs since, logging 292 innings during the past seven seasons.

He has a career record of 17-8 in the minors, and has fanned 345 batters.

Peterson is the first player from Emerald Ridge — which opened in 2000 — to ever be promoted to a major-league club.

He was named The News Tribune's All-Area baseball player of the year as a high school senior in 2009, after helping guide the Jaguars to a 14-7 record, posting a 1.95 ERA.

"He's a great pitcher," former Emerald Ridge coach Tim Spears told The News Tribune in 2009. "He has poise, control and he holds runners on very well."

In high school, Peterson had enough power to touch 90 miles per hour with his fastball, and led the 4A SPSL South in strikeout ratio — fanning 46 in 32 innings.

Peterson also led the 4A SPSL South that year in batting average (.500), RBI (30) and home runs (seven).

Three other players from Emerald Ridge — Colby Sokol (Minnesota Twins, 2008), Zach Hendrix (Arizona Diamondbacks, 2009) and Bryan Burgher (Minnesota Twins, 2011) — were drafted out of high school, but didn't play professionally.

Quinn Wolcott, a 2005 Emerald Ridge graduate, is currently a major-league umpire. He joined the full-time MLB roster in 2014 as the youngest member at 28 years old.

This story was originally published May 30, 2018 at 10:46 AM with the headline "Former Emerald Ridge pitcher called up to big leagues."