PHILADELPHIA — After the worst outing of his nine-year major-league career, Freddy Peralta walked off the mound at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday night with a stunned look on his face. No outward emotion. Just a daze.“Of course, I don’t feel good about it right now, but I am not worried,” Peralta said after allowing 10 runs, all earned, over just 2 2/3 innings in the New York Mets’ 15-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.The reality is that it’s past the time for concern for the Mets (34-42), and specifically their rotation. The Mets haven’t won three games in a row since they swept the Miami Marlins to close out May. After winning back-to-back games, they again failed to mount a winning streak on Saturday because of a bad outing from a starting pitcher.“That’s the key,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “That’s why we’ve been having a little bit of a hard time here trying to get some winning streaks. But they’re too good. They’re talented. We gotta be able to figure this out. When they get going here — and we need them to get going pretty soon — that’s when you start putting together some consistent baseball.”This time, the pitcher they expected to anchor their rotation was the culprit.Peralta’s season is a double whammy. He isn’t pitching well enough to help the Mets gain relevance in the standings. And he isn’t pitching well enough to help the Mets gain a decent return if they trade him.To have any shot at a turnaround, the Mets need Peralta to pitch like a front-end starter. They simply do not have the quality in their rotation, nor the depth to take replacement-level work from a two-time All-Star. Instead, Peralta has been worse than mediocre.Why it's too early to talk about the MLB trade deadlineKen RosenthalPeralta’s outing increased his ERA to 4.83, which ranks 59th among 66 qualified pitchers. The 10 earned runs he gave up Saturday were the most he’s allowed in a game, surpassing the seven he gave up on April 19, 2019.Peralta’s performance was a nightmare, but scary signs previously popped up. He entered the day with a 3.90 ERA and 105 ERA-plus, and those figures were closer to league average than they were to his norm. Peralta became a full-time starter in 2021. From 2021-25, he owned a 3.30 ERA with a 126 ERA-plus.When the Mets acquired 30-year-old Peralta in January, he eyed pitching deeper into games. He has never resembled an old-school workhorse, but he consistently offered quality. Lasting longer in outings was a reasonable goal. But Peralta hasn’t lasted for more than five innings in seven of his 16 starts. He has recorded an out in the seventh inning of a game just once.Peralta’s problem isn’t complex, Mendoza said. The issue is command and trust in his stuff. He isn’t throwing enough strikes.Peralta fell behind 2-0 to the first three batters he faced in the count Saturday. Bryce Harper, the third batter, hit a solo home run. The early sequence set the tone. Peralta walked just one batter, but fell behind and missed locations too frequently. When he was in the strike zone, the Phillies pounced. Against Peralta, they racked up 10 hits.“He’s going through a little bit of a rough stretch here, but if somebody is able to bounce back after bad outings, it’s a guy like Freddy,” Mendoza said.Mendoza listed Nolan McLean and Sean Manaea as examples of Mets starters who overcame poor stretches. The list is longer for Mets pitchers who haven’t. Regardless, it’s too much practice with trying to fix pitchers before the midpoint of a season.The Mets’ rotation features five starters who were either guaranteed a spot or firmly in the mix for one leading up to Opening Day: Peralta, McLean, Manaea, Kodai Senga and David Peterson. Yet the group offers little stability. Making things worse, the Mets failed to absorb losing Clay Holmes (fractured fibula) to the injured list last month with their next wave of depth, which includes pitchers such as prospects Zach Thornton and Jonah Tong.Peterson is set to start on Sunday as their best option despite his 5.91 ERA. The situation is more comparable to when the Mets gave Senga a shot earlier in the week than it is when they turned to Manaea, who has recently pitched well. Senga, who has a 9.00 ERA, lasted just four innings on Tuesday and is expected to get another turn. The lefty Peterson (3.75 FIP, 64 innings) is making his first start since May 26 in part because of the Phillies’ lefty-heavy lineup.“We’re counting on him,” Mendoza said.There aren’t many intriguing alternatives. Christian Scott, one of the most reliable Mets starters, could end up dodging a rehab assignment, but the earliest he is eligible to return is next weekend. He is slated to throw what Mendoza described as “an intense” live bullpen session next week, which would constitute multiple innings. Such a session could account for a rehab assignment, Mendoza said.Scott threw a bullpen session Saturday for the first time since landing on the 15-day injured list on Monday (retroactive to June 12) because of a hip impingement.For the Mets, time is precious. They cannot continue their pattern of winning two, losing more and making up any ground. They need more from their rotation to sustain their bullpen’s success and give their inconsistent lineup a chance. And with the Aug. 3 trade deadline approaching, they need more from Peralta, for wherever they end up in six weeks.