|
|
|
During yesterday’s loss to the Pirates, Oliver Perez allowed seven runs while walking five batters through 1.2 innings.
…the thing is, as i have cringed about before, the wheels just come off so fast…seriously, he looks fine, hits a bump in the road, like walking three of the first four batters in the second inning, and then he goes totally off the road – like committing an error on a potential inning-ending 
double play, then letting six more runs to score after that…
Perez, talking to reporters after the game:
Sometimes you don’t have your stuff and you have to find what you can do to get out of the innings…I had trouble throwing strikes. Everybody can have a bad day…I’ve been good in the last few games and this is a time to find what you’re doing wrong, to get better, and try to go in the right direction…I think sometimes I’m trying to throw too hard…Tomorrow we’re off, and I can find what I’m doing wrong.”
…lovely…it’s in his head, now…and that can’t be good…
Billy Wagner, on Perez, while talking to reporters after yesterday’s loss, said:
“Perez, honestly, has got to step up and know we just used every guy in our bullpen the night before. He can’t come out there and decide that he hasn’t got it today.”
In the New York Post, Bart Hubbach writes more about Wagner and Perez, adding: “Asked if talking to Perez about his notoriously short attention span was like trying to talk to a wall, Wagner pointed his finger and said: ‘Pretty much.’”
Perez later told reporters that he agrees with Wagner’s statements, adding:
“I have no problem with that. I’ve got to do my job.”
In a report for SNY, Ted Berg writes, “Perez is immeasurably frustrating.”
According to Berg, Perez’s ERA is never an accurate way to measure the pitcher’s success or struggles, noting, thanks to errors, “Perez allowed 20 more batters to cross the plate than are accounted for in the 3.56 ERA he posted in 2007, and, with the five unearned runs he allowed on Wednesday, he’s well on his way to matching that number in 2008.”
 |
 |
 |
RSS 2.0 Both comments and pings are currently closed.
It’s only one game here. Let’s not make a mountain out of a mole-hill (though Mets fans are adept at doing just that).
Perez has been pretty good this year overall. He does need to work on his mental toughness…though I’m not sure how a person works on that. I feel like when he walks his first batter next start, Wagner should come running out of the bullpen and sucker-punch Perez to set him straight. After a few sucker-punches Perez won’t know the meaning of “ball four”.
At least this happened the day before an off-day, so the relief squad can recuperate.
true, however he has the history of breaking down mentally. Maybe this where Brain Sch comes and makes a diiference. If not Perez is in for a roller coaster ride of a season again.
Haha, I completely agree. Nothing will get your head out of the gutter like a left hook to the temple!
how can u say perez has been good..hes gotten through 6 innings one time and tht was a 13-0 game against the marlins the first week of the season..he must step it up
he really hasn’t been that great. he has gone off the tracks in a few of his scoreless starts which has limited his innings.
I agree completely. Perez has never instilled confidence in me and I’m still more surprised by when he dominates than when he implodes. Maybe it’s just the case that despite all of his “upside” he’s really just an above-average National League 4th pitcher.
I hate to quote Lupica but I have to agree that the Mets are the team with the most to prove this year and are not showing it.
What gets me is that it’s not just one game. They have been inconsistent regardless of who is injured. The Angels have their top 2 starters out and a few other players, but still play crisp competative baseball.
And as much as some people want to downplay the importance of a manager, the team does reflect a managers personality. A laissez faire manager – a laissez faire team.
The only good thing about May is that people can’t say it’s still only April.
Do you guys think Castillo’s potential double play could have made a difference? Afterall, he misplayed the bounce and could have ending the inning with a marginal score.
Well that is why they only credited Ollie with 2ERs despite giving up 7
What bothers me most if the offense… yes it was 7-0… but the guy you’re facing has an ERA over 6, and their pen STINKS..
5 walks an no runs in 5 innings…. that is really the worst part of this game.. everyone knows Ollie is Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde.
Completely agree. Talk about a team that gave up on the game. These guys couldn’t hit anything. I’m surprised we even got one. This game would have ended 14-13 Mets in 2006…
I was wondering what was bothering me about this and the thought came to to me that could not Wagner have taken Perez to the side and given him this talk? That is what REAL team leaders do, not diss and ‘hate on their teamates to the press or leave punk a$$ notes on their lockers and not man up to doing it.
I can’t wait until Wagner’s contract is up. This whole “I know everything” act is becoming overdone. If you have something to say, or some positive reinforcement, got to the player with it. Why are you talking to him through the media? It’s just stupid.
Come on now. This guy has all the talent in the world and he’s a lefty, but he doesn’t approach every game as if he’s facing the Braves. This guy has never been clutch for his team. Following an 11 inning game, where almost every guy from the bullpen saw action, and facing his old team, you would figure that Ollie could muster just a little bit of something to get him through 2 innings. NOPE, he cannot come up clutch when the team needs him to have a good outing or eat up some innings. Call it lack of concentration, or motivation, or attention, whatever it is this guy doesn’t have it. It’s a shame we can’t trade him….
There is no “Myetery” here when speaking of Perez. He is what he is, great somedays and totally useless on others. This is not a new developement, just ask Pittsburgh. It’s a shame too because the guy really does have electrifying stuff – when he’s on he’s the only Mets Pitcher who’s capable of throwing a No-Hitter, but when he’s off he’s a complete disaster. The bad thing about this is that all his problem are in his head, that’s much harder to fix than just a simple mechanical problem which you can tweek and correct with Peterson’s help. But when the problem lies between the “Ears” that’s a much deeper and harder problem to correct, maybe you can’t. In my humble opinion, going off last years 15-win season and the fact that he’s a left-hander to boot, he’s perfect trade bait and we should get something good in return while he’s still marketable. PG
This is completely off subject, but I think everyone should look at the standings column of the entire MLB. Excepting Arizona (who is def this years team to beat so far) no one in MLB (not just the NL who *experts* claim is the lesser league) has less then 10 losses. Every team more or less has double digit wins and losses this early suggesting this is a year in which almost every team is middle of the road. That, i think, is great because it means competition is high, small franchise teams are getting their dues, and no series is a cake walk: i.e mets versus pittsburgh. While the Mets have not looked great, no team has (except AZ). If the Mets can get 2 out of 3 from AZ this weekend i think that could be a big confidence booster. Last year around this time they went in their for a 4 game series and took 3 out of 4, nearly taking the last. this could be big.
arizona is much better than last year. maybe i’m pessimistic but i’m paying more attention to webb and haren than some crazy voodoo spell we have over phoenix.
the thing is it doesn’t stop with them, randy johnson, max scherzer, even micah owings is hitting homeruns!…this weekend makes me very nervous
Az is what scares me this could easily turn into a 4 game losing streak real quick unless these guys get it together.
i always look forward to going to play in arizona..we crush the ball there every year
I love Wagner. He has the guts to say things that only the fans would.
So did LoDuca.
but Wagner produces
and he’s telling it like it is…not roid raging
That only the fans would? I doubt that the average fan is nearly so bold in their own jobs and concerns as they are when discussing that of a professional athlete who works on camera.
writers have been bashing the Mets because of the lack of veteran leadership, then Wags comes out and tells like it is with Perez, and now he’s the bad guy?
It seems like they’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t.
Of course, one way to keep your pitcher (who apparently melts down when he’s in an inning too long) from giving up 5 or 6 unearned runs a game is TO PLAY SOME FREAKING DEFENSE!
The Mets’ defense over the first month of the season has been ATROCIOUS!
And as I told my wife yesterday, it is UNFORGIVEABLE that this team should score only 1 run against the Pirates, no matter how many runs they gave up. The Pirates have the worst pitching staff on the planet. They showed they could hit Snell, who is their best pitcher, the night before. Gorzelanny is their second best, but he was in obvious pain and struggled to make it to a full 5 innings. The Mets should have been hitting him hard. A loss is a loss, but this should have been at least a 13-5 or even 13-10 loss, not 13-1. Actually, subtract the unearned runs and the Mets should have won this one, even despite the 7 ER that Perez gave up with no added help from the (lack of) defense. It would have at least been close… maybe 8-6.
Maybe we need another “Valentine’s Day Massacre” to get this team shaken up a bit. Axe the whole coaching staff as a warning to Willie and Omar and the team. It worked in ‘99.
Thank god for Wagner. Finally somebody who has the guts to speak up and give this team a kick in the pants! the Mets would be crazy to give any kind of big money to Perez next year he is far to inconsistant.
Couldn’t agree more on both counts. I’d offer him a deal to stay, but i would not go over the 10-12 mil/year range for 4 years. That will obviously not satisfy Boras, but for a roller coaster ride of a pitcher, it is fair. Of course that means Philly or Atlanta will pick him up and he’ll haunt us forever.
On to Wagner. I used to dismiss what came out of his mouth as garbage. However, he holds a little more credibility this year because so far he is “putting up”. Seems like he has dedicated himself to sort of re-inventing himself (pitching from the wind up). Challenging hitters with fastballs.
His comments should be listened to. Willie is obviously not going to speak up. Someone needs to point out that this team is underachieving. That goes for Reyes, Castillo, Wright, Beltran, Delgado, Heilman, Ollie, Maine, and Sosa.
Boras will look for 15/5 but will probably get 15/4…so your numbers aren’t far off. If he pitches this way the entire year, though, I wouldn’t even give him 4 years. 13/2 would be as far as I would go on this guy…
I have never, I repeat NEVER like Perez. He’s always been a head case. And I don’t like them either.
Just let him fade off in to obscurity. Or let him pitch next season and pull a Kenny Rogers.
Maybe he’ll tank this season and end up signing a 1-yr incentive-laden minor league deal with Kansas City in late Feb.
Was anyone watching the MIL/CHC game last night? It was interesting watching what Ned Yost did to/with Turnbow compared to our own game last night. Which, basically, was sit back and let him implode until it was absolutely too humiliating to bear (6 ER and 4 BB notwithstanding).
I tend to think that OP is never going to cure his head case if he is always pulled at the moment of implosion. When we’re luckiest, that’s in the 7th, more often, the 5th, yesterday, the 2nd. I’m not saying we should throw his games away, but seriously? It just seems like he is being babied.
ETA that I know Turnbow was only in for .2 IP, but it was about 30 minutes of torture…43 pitches and 10 batters.
I actually watched that inning. I fixed myself some dinner, took a shower, shaved, played a few video games….all in time to see Turnbow walking off the field.
I think he needs to change things up a little bit. He should fro his hair out and he will totally look like a character that belongs in Napoleon Dynamite.
This is a bit off-topic but:
I don’t dislike Wille, but there has to be a point where his leadership skills have to be addressed. He had a team last year the was in first but could not stay focused or motivated to put the season away; or better yet, could not fight there way out of a paper bag. They played terrible, listless, fundamentally unsound baseball which created the biggest choke in regular season BB history.
They come into this season with something to prove and a debt to ownership and the fans yet still they are playing listless, fundamentally unsound baseball. The most vocal player is the CLOSER and the manager still thinks it’s early. He sounds more like an Art Howe disciple than a Torre clone. Willie didn’t pitch yesterday, but he has to take ownership for the way this team looks lost and “bored.” Time to move on while it’s early enough to get going. The talent is there. The leadership is not.
Ken Oberkfel, keep your suitcase handy.
I have to agree that I’ve been a big Willie supporter, but I’m starting to agree with your line of thinking. I just don’t see these guys giving 100% anymore, and worse than that, they have learned to accept these kind of losses as “it happens”. That’s a load of crap that reminds me of the Art Howe team for sure. These guys seem to have no fire lit under their @ss – which they should have had since the AS break of 2007. It really does seem like there’s some coaching changes that need to be made…
Im not a big fan sometimes of wagners comments but i think he nailed it there. The majority of the bullpen had to work OT yesterday. We needed OP to go and keept his team in the game for a while. In the long run this game is forgetable and may work in our favor when neg with boras. While i hope they can “fix” Ollie, i just dont count on that happening. Reminds me alot of Victor Zambrano as he would be crusing for a while then all of a sudden he would look lost and the game is out of reach.
The arbitration he got was not worth this…
He sure is going to get one amazing contact from whoever signs him if he keeps playing like this…
Good on Wagner for calling out this team for its lazy, lackaidaisical play…
How does all this media bashing help this so-called confidence of Perez? I love how Willie has no fear to bash Perez but will stand by Heilman after a .1IP, 3ER, 4H night. Don’t be surprised if we see Perez traded before the year is up. One thing we know, when Willie doesn’t like someone, they are gone (Lo Duca, Gotay, etc.).
Heilman needs to be treated differently. He doesn’t suffer from the mental lapses that Ollie suffers from. Ollie Perez is a good pitcher, no doubt. But he just has that one inning every time. Sometimes he gets out of it (but it ruins what would otherwise be a fantastic start), adn sometimes he doesn’t. The games he doesn’t get out of it, we probably win 50% of them. Why? Because that means Jorge Sosa has to pitch 2 innings. That is an almost automatic insurance run for the other team. Not to mention, Ollie has had moderate success since he has been here. He won 15 games last year, but you could make a case that he could have easily won 20…if he just got himself through that extra inning.
Heilman is just lost right now. Heilman has had the trust and success under Willie to warrant the way he is being handled. I think Heilman will turn it around, while Ollie pretty much is what he is. Frustrating to watch because you know he can be so good.
Matter of fact, I may change my name to Ollie Ollie Oxen Free Base on Balls.
Who will take OP as a rental? I doubt anyone, particularly with Boras.
The Yankees would take perez in 2 seconds.
Wagner has a big mouth and should take care of his own business.
he does
i don’t understand this comment…the guy has a 0.00 era with one blown save (due to an error)…how is he not taking care of his business?
At least it is not 100% Perez’s fault…… he also got no help from the Mets defense…. the whole team was horrible yesterday.
When you walk 5 batters in an inning, you can’t pass the blame off on your defense.
As far as I’m concerned, when you walk 5 batters, you deserve whatever it is that you get.
I did not say it was only the defense’s fault what happened yesterday but, they share the blame for that mess…… if the defense is not responsible at least partially, why are some of those runs called UNearned??
It’s known in baseball, if you walk batters, throw ball, after ball, after ball, you’re going to put your fielders to sleep. Ollie was as good as Sominex yesterday. So when it really comes down to it, it was pretty much all his fault.
Bullpen wouldn’t have been so taxed if Wagner didn’t blow a save against one of the worst teams in baseball the previous night.
Or if Willie didn’t insist on using every reliever every night — including last night.
Torre School
True. He better hope he never has a meltdown like Perez’s……
he wouldn’t have blown the save if reyes didn’t make an error…just saying…
note how he still has 0 ER
Sure, he blew the save…but it wasn’t without help from our franchise short stop.
By the way, at what point do we worry if Reyes possibly isn’t the player we saw in 2006? It’s becoming more and more evident that he is almost a non-factor in this lineup.
If Reyes gets the first guy out than Wagner does not blow last nights game. Wagner hasn’t allowed an earned run yet this season!
I really, really hope that Santana is talking to OP behind the scenes. I can’t fault Wagner on this one, but its not going to help OP either. He needs a mentor on the inside…
We should have traded away OP in the deal for Santana and kept Gomez….
Mixed feelings on this. On one hand, it’s something that needs to be said. But I don’t think Wags should use the media to send a message to Ollie. I liked Ollie’s response; at least I know he knows he has a problem. Now all he needs to do is fix it.
How much weight do Billy’s words have with the team? Not only is he a pitcher (a weird species of creature) but he’s a reliever. DW is still finding his way as a leader and we’re getting nothing from Beltran and Delgado. Hope somebody in the clubhouse is listening to Wags.
Taken from New York Post article:
“Nothing went our way,” Delgado said. “We didn’t throw enough strikes. We didn’t catch the ball. We had more errors than hits. It’s almost impossible to win a game like that.”
I think Delgado and Beltran get unfairly criticized for not talking to the media. You can only talk when they come to you. Delgado has been known to duck out, but I think Beltran is always there. Beltran stood up on the last Friday of the season when the world was coming to an end and said “this isn’t over yet. it isn’t over until the last game is played.”
I disagree with the popular belief that these guys say nothing.
You’re right, Ollie Oxen. We don’t know what the guys talk about in the clubhouse. Just because a player doesn’t open up to the media doesn’t mean he’s not talking to his teammates. Although I like knowing what the guys are thinking about, it can be good for them to play mum with the media, which is often too ready to jump all over one little statement or mis-statement. As a fan I don’t need a good “storyline” in the paper. Just give me some good baseball.
Since Heilman had a good inning yester, he prob thinks he deserves OP starting rotation spot.
If this team is only hovering around .500 by all-star game WIlly is a goner, and he would have deserved it…
Couldn’t agree with you more about Willie. What will it take to get Bobby V. back from Japan?
Don’t think it’ll ever happen.
Getting Bobby V back is only a dream… but he took a cast with much less talent to the WS, just imagine what he could do with this squad.
It feels good to hear someone call these guys out. Enough of the cookie cutter answers I’m sick of them.
This was only one game. Lets hope we don’t get swept by the d-backs.
I have a feeling that Wagner isn’t the leader we all think he is. I think Wager tells the media what the fans want to hear but I don’t believe he approaches his teammates in the same way. I don’t cover the team so I have no idea it is only a hunch but when Pat Burrell called him a rat I think this is what he was referring to.
Pat Burrell? Pat Burrell? You are going to listen to anything that guy says? Must be a Phillies phan.
aderol. get perez aderol. watch his ERA shrink.
Wow! I finally agree with Billy Wargner. I think Billy was right on in getting on O.P. He needs to stop taxing the bullpen, and starting going 7 innings. I think its best when Wagner confines his comments to the Bullpen or the Starting pitching, but I feel being a picther, he can’t get on the everday players.
Well done Billy.
Maybe we should get O.P. some Aderole.
Was anyone watching the SNY broadcast during the 40 min delay? they said that pitchers are creatures of habit and they hope Ollie stays focused and doesn’t let the delay effect him. Knowing Ollie and his lack of focus, I knew once the game started that Ollie wouldn’t have his best stuff but I was hoping the offense would help him thru 5 innings. They said that Ollie was throwing to be ready for the 1:10 start but had to stop which anyone thats ever pitched knows that once you warm up its hard to sit out for 30 min before throwing again. Its a tough loss but a loss like this still counts the same as a 1-0 dramatic loss in the 9th inning and actually hurts less. Lets put the loss behind us and move onto the desert!
Good way to look at it. I wish I could take it like that.
So the time he was throwing his second inning, if the game had started on time, he would have been pitching his fifth inning. Well thats when he usually implodes anyway. Guess his internal clock didnt get the time change memo.
Perez is a non -issue for next year.
he will be on the west coast. i have zero interest in paying big money for an unknown. He may be great one day and suck the next. No thank you.
Mets will re-load in free agency and all we need is a solid starter.
however if CC want in then that’s another story.
What #4 or #5 starter do you see as more consistent or solid of a starter as Perez would be? Yes he is not going to be worth a big contract so hopefully he wins alot of games for the mets but looks awful doing it and agrees to a smaller contract to stay with Peterson. I’d rather have Perez at the back end of the rotation who has the potential to be lights out than a Livan hernandez, Kyle Loshe, Adam Eaton, etc where you know he’s going to have a 5+ era.
I am one of the biggest ollie fans out there – heck I even have the oliverperezfan site on bl0gspo0t.
A few things I have noticed after watching almost all of his starts … He gives up so many unearned runs and the defense crumbles around him because the team gets lacidaisical when he pitches. The guys on the radio were talking about it right before the Castillo error. The fielders were taking their gloves off between pitches and losing focus. His effectively wild and great stuff make the fielders think that no one is going to hit it. They think strikeout or walk on every pitch.
Also when he doesn’t get the corners or the low strikes from the ump he goes up in the zone and misses there too, or he gets hammered.
Last time out he got hit in the hand on a line drive he tried to field. I dont think he has been effective since. Could he be injured? When you barehand a hard liner with your pitching hand it cant help your grip.
Not to be talking about race or nationality – but I have also noticed he pitches better with more command when it is warm. Last year he blew up at the start of the season vs. SF when it was cold and windy too. Could this be part of the growing up in Mexico and the heat?
Lets hope that Pedro and Johan work with him, and he calms down and shows what we all know he is capable of. I wonder if their as a sports psycologist that he could see to put it all together,
I’m glad Perez thinks he;s been “good lately” – although I wonder what part of being unable to lock down a 3-0 lead against the Nationals qualifies as “good.”