Some think I don’t like Oliver Perez. Not true. I just don’t like to watch him pitch when he’s all over the place. He wasn’t last night. The “Good Ollie,’’ is very enjoyable to watch. Here’s how I wrote it:
NEW YORK _ His psyche has always been the focal point in every game Oliver Perez pitches.
Las Vegas probably even has a line on what inning he will implode.
Perez, who can dominate one inning and be dominated the next _ he’s been known to waffle between hitters _ appeared to be set up for a collapse in the fourth inning last night at the Stadium.
The Mets had scored four against Chien-Ming Wang, but the long inning got longer when Carlos Delgado’s two-run homer was taken away by a blown umpire’s call.
The adversity of the lost runs coupled with the delay screamed meltdown. It looked that way when Derek Jeter singled and Hideki Matsui homered, but Perez cut it off right there, and then pitched out of trouble the next two innings to give the Mets an 11-2 victory last night over the Yankees.
“It was huge when he got out of the fourth,’’ manager Willie Randolph said. “He was outstanding.’’
Perez refused to say he was prompted by Billy Wagner prodding to step up, but it was clear he rose to another level in the fifth after Jose Molina’s leadoff double when he got Johnny Damon on a grounder, struck out Bobby Abreu looking, and retired Jeter on a fly.
“I don’t think of that,’’ Perez said of being called out by Wagner. “All I’m thinking about is doing my job. All I’m thinking about is to keep the team in the game.’’
Perez got out of the sixth when he got Robinson Cano on an inning-ending double-play grounder.
“He made some big pitches when he had to,’’ David Wright said. “He didn’t give in to them.’’
Perez retired the Yankees in order in the seventh, and after the Mets scored six in the eighth, he came out for two more hitters.
“Ollie got into a nice rhythm,’’ Randolph said. “I thought he could have gone further. When he’s locked into his rhythm, he is pretty tough to beat. When he’s feeling his confidence, he’s pretty good.’’
Randolph has always admired Perez’s competitive fire, but admits not being happy when he loses focus, often the result of improvising with arm angles in his delivery when he gets into trouble.
That’s what happened in his previous start against Cincinnati when he gave up one hit through five innings, lost it with three runs in the sixth.
Catcher Brian Schneider said Perez did none of that last night.
“He was aggressive and didn’t give in,’’ Schneider said. “The turning point in the game was when Molina lead off that inning with a double and he shut them down. He got some big outs.’’
Perez was the “Good Ollie.’’
Even in the fourth when Perez gave up the home run to Matsui, it was a bad pitch, and not an issue of losing focus and walking hitters.
While Randolph prefers to keep his pitchers around 100 pitches. A measure of Perez’s effectiveness was 100 pitches took him through six innings against the Reds, but last night his 109 took him through 7 2/3 innings.
Perez hit two batters, but walked only two. He had only four strikeouts, but that indicates he let his defense work for him.
“He’s at his best when he doesn’t take a lot of time between pitches,’’ Schneider said. “I’ll put down the fingers for a fastball or curveball and he throws it.
“When he does that he’s very aggressive.’’
And, very good.
Which, of course, leads to the obvious question: Why can’t he do this all the time?
Reach me by email at jdelcos@lohud.com
9 Comments
This could turn out to be the turning point of Perez’s season. You judge a pitcher by looking at days when he doesn’t have his best stuffs. Obviously, Ollie didn’t have his best stuffs last night, but he weathered the storm and came out on top. He’s been a yankees killer so far. I hop he stays next year although looking at the Yanks’ pitching situation, they might be bidding for his service.
This was a real good effort from Ollie. Just great. But can he have lots more like this in 2008? Can he at least replicate what he did last year? If he can’t, it’s still questionable whether they should try to resign him. At the very least they should offer arbitration, but a long-term contract is too risky if he can’t consistently pitch at the 2007 level.
I actually did not think OP had his best stuff last nite (he had very few swings and misses). But he showed some stones by making it thru some hit batters and walks. And was able to keep the Yanks off balance enough so that they could not get good wood on the ball.
That was what was impressive in his performance. And I do think that getting called out by Wagner did have an effect.
But he still tried to do some styling and it almost cost him (side arm delivery w/man on 3rd-he did the same damn thing in another start but it was so outside last time it went to the backstop; spinning and throwing to 1B which almost was thrown away).
I guess if OP can get to Manny R’s level (alot to ask), we can start to say, “That is Ollie being Ollie”.
JK, I would not call OP’s 07 yr one w/any consistency.
He is doing pretty much what he did last yr. Some good, some bad, some ok.
I love how a positive posting only gets 4 commetns, but negative ones get a minimum of 90
scoop, I agree Ollie’s ‘07 season was inconsistent. But despite that, it was a quality season overall. Worthy to be paid like a #3 or #4 starter. And he does have this habit of pitching well in big games and against the Yankees. So I could live with Ollie if he’s at least as good as ‘07. If he’s worse I would only offer him arbitration. But if he pitches well this year, offer him a modest contract. Chances are Boras will overshoot a lot anyway and the Mets won’t budge. So maybe Ollie will.
The Mets will need some starters next year and Niese is not doing that great at Bingo right now.
Joe, I agree with you. But with positive stuff there is less room for argument. You’re not going to get a bunch of people saying “I agree.”
I also think that we can officially label Perez a big game pitcher. Other than his bad start against Florida last year, can you remember him pitching poorly in a big game? He absolutely owns Atlanta and the Yanks, and he was great for us in the NLCS in ‘06.
Why does Mets coaching (willie and peterson) insist on keeping his pitchers around a 100 pitch count limit? He’s not the only one out there with this ridiculous “rule” so I’m not picking on Willie, but what are these guys doing? Trying to protect the integrity of Winter Ball down in the Dominican? Give me a break. I’m sure this is all statistically driven, which a guy like Peterson probably is an adherent, but we saw what that got the Mets bullpen last summer…meltdown. They were coming apart at the seams from mid August on and the drumbeat never changed.
I understand that historically some pitchers were overused and blew out arms / shortened careers. I know there’s a lot of money at stake w/ these guys being “investments”. I get that. But at some point it should be about winning and not turning over a game to a bunch of bullpen hacks with one or two pitches and hoping for the best. Removing a pitcher that is cruising along – solely based on pitch count – and throwing in a change of pace from the bullpen is just idiotic IMO. I just don’t believe that a 25 year old can’t dial up 120 pitches every 5 or 6 days w/o risking arm injury. How did they ever do it the past 100 years or so? It’s just not credible and it seemed to gain popularity after the Pedro incident that got Grady Little fired. Is it a Manager liability issue now? I’m actually surprised Willie ran Perez out there for the 8th last night…after all it was a 9 run lead…maybe they could “bank” some pitches for another day when it’s a 2-1 game, so that Willie and Petey won’t have to pull him when he reaches the magic number and the air raid siren goes off in the dugout.
JK, #3-4 SP pitchers are getting 50MM+ contracts. That is what OP will get of he wins 15 games again this yr. If he does not that, Mets are gonna have to do it unless Pelf really turns it on if they expect to be contenders for a long time since as you point out there is not much in MiL. OP and Texiera are needed in the offseason.