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In a win yesterday against the Yankees, Oliver Perez let up just three hits and one run, while walking nobody and striking out eight, with 106 pitches in seven innings.
…this is the first time all season that he did not walk a batter…
Prior to the game, pitching coach Dan Warthen explained that he and Perez had recently worked on making changes to the pitcher’s delivery, such as letting Perez pitch from the center of the rubber, which is something Rick Peterson would not allow.
…also, he changed the start of his windup, instead of stepping to the side and returning to center, now he’s stepping directly back and coming forward, which he said gives him more power…
…the by-product appeared to be more confidence throwing inside, and so he also threw more fastballs in general, which looked outstanding…also interesting, as Brian Schneider acknowledged after the game while talking with Kevin Burkhardt, perez was working more back and forth, i.e., changing speeds, than side to side, i.e., painting the corners…
Perez, talking to reporters after the game, said:
“Today was the real Ollie…I was having fun, but at the same time I was focused…Before, I was trying to be a different pitcher. Right now, it’s me…I was really there, and I’m happy for what I did today and I have to keep going…Before, I was trying to be too perfect, I was trying to be a different pitcher, but today was the real me.”
Manuel, on Perez, talking to reporters after the game, said:
“Everybody has tried some different things with him…What has happened in the past is that they last for one inning, two innings, but this adjustment that he made today seemed to carry him throughout the game, which we should expect next time he takes the ball. He should be the same way.”
…next time he takes the ball…excellent…keep going, ollie…
Dan Warthen, as quoted by the Star-Ledger:
“That’s all part of it, all part of Ollie being Ollie. It’s great. These are the things he was able to take from the bullpen to what he did today, with a lot of freedom, a lot of Ollie freedom, which is stuff he wants. If he wants it, then he’s going to feel comfortable.”
…i have said this a few times already, but, the way it was explained to me, warthen is a total 180–degree turn from peterson, who had a master philosophy about pitching and he expected all pitchers to subscribe to it…whereas warthen has no philosophy, other than throwing two of your first three pitches for strikes…instead, warthen works with each pitcher and tries to maximize that specific pitcher’s strengths…as my colleague Ted Berg has explained, perez comes from the Mexican League, where personal style and creativity is valued asset…so, maybe by letting ollie shed ‘The Jacket,’ so to speak, and, instead, just be who he is, he’ll return to form…time will tell…
Welcome performance, but we are going to need to see this for a while before assuming Perez is right.
I have personally always felt the biggest problem with Peterson was one size fits all. But what scares me about Warthen is no size at all. TIme will tell.
I would really like to believe all this stuff, but my gut tells me its way over rated.
SNY led with something like “After Warthen totally revised OPs delivery..” Its hard for me to believe a career’s worth of inconsistency is cured in one bullpen session by a new pitching coach. I hope I’m wrong here, but have to see more.
I agree, but I also think that since a pitching coach is overrated, it will help to not have Peterson trying to do 4,000 different things all the time. Less is more in many cases, a pitching coach should only stop something bad from happening, go out and tell a pitcher when he notices him tipping a pitch or doing something drastic. Peterson tried to reinvent the wheel too often.
You definitely have to take any individual performance with a grain of salt. What will be the discussion if Perez pulls another disappearing act in his next start?
That said, it was actually Warthen, and not Peterson, that Ollie credited back in 2006 with helping him get his act together.
So let’s hope this lasts.
And somewhere, Scott Boras is cackling loudly and twisting his evil mustache…
Don’t care. It’s not my money, let him have it.
This is the key phrase in my eyes. “with a lot of freedom, a lot of Ollie freedom”
I’ve been a loyal reader and participant in this blog for the past 4 years or so. But this may be the most I have learned on this blog about a particular dynamic between player and coach. Thanks MATT!
I feel like I understand a bit more about the Jacket but more importantly I feel like I have been introduced to Warthen and frankly…I like a guy who chooses to maximize the strengths of what he has rather than force a guy into his box of what he feels a strong pitcher should be.
Peterson worked very hard to make OP and Maine and Pelfrey and others to hear and work his gospel. For a time it worked with OP…It is still working with Maine. I think it was part of the problem with OP being so erratic because it kept fighting his nature to freestyle a bit and I think it depressed the development of Pelfrey by ultimately shreddding his confidence.
Peterson made Maine into a stud though.
GOOD LUCK OP. I saw your fastball touch 94 – 95 yesterday. Keep it up
with big pelf coming around, maine being maine, and santana’s historically better 2nd halves, i hope they can turn this around in the next month. this phillies series is crucial.
First Manny being Manny, then Ollie being Ollie, now you are telling me Maine is being Maine?
What is up with all these people being themselves? Isn’t the American way to be something other than yourself??? Am I wrong here?
i was implying that maine has become a consistent starter and i don’t know about you guys but along with santana, i feel confident when they’re on the mound
In all seriousness I know what you mean. I love Maine… not the state… too many Moose.
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.
last year Peterson was given great credit with stopping Ollie from being Ollie, reigning him in and getting his control back.
now suddenly Ollie doing whatever the hell he wants again and he pitches like an ace….I am not holding my breath
Murph….I doubt he will get the opportunity to do whatever he wants regarding the freestyling. sidearming, over the top, 3/4 delivery etc. Those are the freestyling things within a game that OP can’t afford to do. But having him take the center of the rubber as opposed to the edge and having him come straight back and forth instead of off to the side with his windup and follow through seems like it will be easier to throw the ball where he wants it and is a good idea not a bad one. If OP asked for that and got it….good for Warthen for picking up on something the pitcher wanted that ultimately was good for the pitchers game.
Obviously we need to see it for a longer stretch than one game but we need OP. Armas Jr is not the man to take his spot IMO
yes, it’s very possible that OP wanted to do some things on the mound like pitch from the center and step back, but Peterson’s ego didn’t allow it, and so OP being the genius we all know he is tried to show he can come up with his own stuff. Sometimes I think OP WANTED Peterson to roll his eyes and get all upset. That sidearm thing was possibly just to piss off Peterson. I know it sounds dumb, but who are we dealing with here. Just maybe Wharthen understands the mentality here and gives just enough for him to be “happy”
OP has been coming straight back the last 5 or so starts, so that is not a new thing…
What do we all make of the Delgado weekend?
He has catapulted himself to the top of the teams HR totals by virtue of the weekend and is on pace to hit 28 dingers for us. His average is lousy and he still swings and misses too much but what do you guys think? Is it a mirage? A one weekend wonder? or has he started to get it?
He did not exactly get his hits off Seaver and Koufax did he?
he’ll hit for the next week until the phillies series and strike out 6 times that weekend. he’ll then be cold for a month and hit 5 homeruns during a random series in august. i can’t wait to see him leave
Delgado will strike out less and perform better than Howard in the series. Works for me.
No but a hit is a hit I think. I’d still like to see more power from him. Maybe he should start doing what Howard does for the Phils and just swing for the fences every time. And then either strike out or hit us a homer. Who then cares about the .217 BA.
joe crede for 09!
Definitely…move Wright to 1b
I think he’s turned into Russell Branyan… it’s either going to be a K a W or an HR most of the time. That’s not necessarily a bad thing because it’s an improvement over where he was.
Personally, now that his value has increased a bit I think we should look to move him for a prospect. He will not lead us to a division title and we can use some young talent. I’d then bring up Carp and hold my breath in hope that he’s reasonably ready. His defense can’t be any worse than Delgado’s.
Trade him while he might actually have some value.
If you rolled all of Phillies starters into one, they wouldn’t even touch Koufax. There is plenty of bad pitching around the league and if Delgado can hit bad pitching, he’ll be fine. He won’t be a great player anymore, but as long as even the good pitchers know that if they make a mistake, Delgado is going to get them, he’ll do very well.
I dunno but instead of looking to replace him there is a spot in left field that needs to be manned by someone with some pop. Delgado and Church hitting 6th and 7th in this line up would look much better. I would really like Bay but don’t think we have the bullets to get him.
Reyes
Castillo
Beltran
Wright
Bay
Delgado
Church
Schneider / Castro
Muy bueno.
For all the trades we would like to do to make this team better, what do you seriously think it would take to get these guys? A Heilman + 2 other somebodies? I’d like to hear what people think we have that anyone would want.
I’m not asking this to toss chilled water on anyone’s parade as I would love to have someone of Bay’s stature in our line up.
IMO, we have the chips to get a Bay or Nady, but will be outbid by other teams. Last week I read something about the Dodgers wanting a big bat at the trade deadline in the form of Holliday, Bay, or Nady, and willing to trade one of Ethier, Kemp, or Loney for it. That blows anything that we have out of the water.
That’s just one example, but with our weaker farm I’m sure that there are others.
That must have been Heyman or Stark writing that. No way the Dodgers let Kemp or Loney go. They are to Dodgers what Wright and Reyes are to the Mets. But regardless…
If Bay gets traded, wouldn’t Nady be traded as well? If you are going to start trading off your studs, you might as well go full bore and trade off the expendables, right?
So would someone take Heilman, Carp (or a reasonable facsimile) and low minor leaguer for _______? The blank being Dunn, Bay, Nady, Ibanez, etc…
Let’s face it, the Mets farm doesn’t have the bodies to bring in any of those players mentioned, and personally I wouldn’t want to trade the farm again for them. Instead what I would propose is if a team with a OFer that is to be a FA at the end of the year. Low cost in terms of prospects and the Mets could always try and resign the player in the off season. The one player that I think would fit the best (as far as talent) and I know many would disagree … is….Milton Bradley. A true nut and a pain the rear, but does have pop, fair fielder and enough energy to bolster this team.
I don’t know if this whole “stepping back” thing was the reason but it sure was encouraging to see Ollie hitting the mid 90’s with regularity – topping out at 96. I’ve been very concerned with his lifeless 88-92 fastball that we were seeing. Whatever changed yesterday not only cleared his head but also returned some juice to his arm. Hopefully, he can carry it over into his next start (& beyond) and develop some consistency (not that consistency is expected from anyone on this team).
by stepping back first Perez is able to then take his next step forward as he goes into his leg-lift… this hets his hips moving to homeplate earlier than his previous motion … getting the hips moving forward before the apex of the leg lift should improve control as it gives your arm less time to get ahead or fall behind the rest of the body.
Down with Philosophy!
If anyone was going to benefit from the dismissal of the Jacket, it was Ollie. I don’t think Ollie ever fully “got” what Peterson was trying to say. Heck, most people don’t “get” what Peterson is trying to say.
I’m not a big Peterson fan and I think he didn’t get the blame he deserved up to this pointthis year, but let’s remember some things.
Ollie won 15 games under Peterson last year.
Heilman was a dominant set up man under Peterson at one time.
Maine has developed into a good pitcher.
put some blame on the coach but more blame needs to be shifted to the pitcher. Ollie’s next start is at CBP. about 4 of his fly ball outs would have been HRs in CBP.
yesterday was a very nice start but there si a lto of work to be done. most of his pitches yesterday were stress free and he could just throw. I wonder which Ollie we will see if he is in Philly with 1st and 3rd and one out.
I’m hoping for the best and he has the talent to pitch like he did yesterday consistently. that Arod K yesterday was very impressive. let’s hope he can keep it up.
trade him
Trade OP. sell high.
he was hitting as high as 96 on the radar. there have been so many start swhere hes topped out at 88-91
Ollie, Ollie, Ollie….Oy, Oy, Oy! Ollie, Ollie, Ollie…Oy, Oy Oy!
Ollie, Oy
Ollie, Oy
Ollie, Ollie, Ollie…Oy, Oy, Oy!
this is a chant that should be utilized at Ollie’s home starts. come on, let s do it.
I’m sure he is soccer fan and with the recent Euro Championships, he’d appreciate it and hopefully affect him in a positive way.
all right, boys, big week, LETS GO METS!
If Ollie is going to be a Yankee – killer the rest of his career, I wonder if there are any teams out there that would be verryyyyy interested in that..???
I can think of one. The Yankees..
It is an encouraging start, but it is one start. It is easy to give credit to warthen who clearly tinkered with OP’s delivery, but we all know OP who was pitching poorly this year, domnated the yanks under the jacket as well. I would like to see him perfrom against other teams. It seems like ollie is to the yankees as penny is not to the mets. Sometimes pitchers either have great confidence against certain teams, or the complete opposite in penny’s case.
Lets take tonites opener and start to surge. I fear this season is heading for a “failure to launch” motto if we dont start putting some win streaks together. Churchie really improves that lineup, if only alou could get back. I heard this weekend, but that means the following one at best.
Looks like Warthen fixed Perez in 10minutes