Oliver Perez walked the first batter of the game on four pitches last night, but regrouped to pitch five innings, and though he walked seven batters, he allowed only two runs.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, courtesy of ESPN.com, “Perez is the first pitcher in team history to win a game in which he pitched fewer than six innings and allowed at least seven walks.”
…perez was rocking a nice slider, but he struggled to command his fastball, it seemed… he walked seven, and more than half of the pitches he threw were balls… the thing is, he kept coming up with the big out… hmmm, maybe we should stop looking for Big Game Ollie, and just be happy with Big Out Ollie…
Perez, speaking to reporters following the game, said:
“I did everything I could… Sometimes you’re going to have that kind of game, and sometimes you’re going to have almost-perfect games… Sometimes you don’t have command. That’s why it’s very important to make sure you make the important outs.”
Perez lowered his ERA from 9.97 to 8.78.
The Mets are 2–4 in Perez’s six starts this season.
“I think there’s still some things that he obviously needs to work on,” Jerry Manuel said after the game. “Obviously command is one of them.”
…yes, jerry… obviously… this is an understatement…
…by the way, perez has a faux-hawk going, which makes him look even crazier than i already assume he is… i like it…
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I loved us getting the W, but there was nothing about Ollie last night that gave me any encouragement. He was his usual wild self and was extremely lucky he got the W. it was less a case of guile and reaching back for something extra than just pure good luck. His time on the DL and in the minors had no effect on him. I am no Omar basher, but this was a really bad signing for 3 years/36M. It is abominable that a head case like Ollie is being paid 12M a year.
hooray, we won’t get swept!
We were very lucky. I thought his ball had good movement and he had decent velocity but they need him to have better control. 7 walks over 9 innings would have been terrible. Over 5 innings is awful. Luckily the bats woke up. I can’t believe that we are paying him 12 million a year.
BTW, that mohawk thing he is sporting is terrible. He looks ridiculous. I would rather see him shave his head.
Its completely assinine that we’re excited about Ollie’s performance last night. He was absolutely terrible with his command and extremely lucky to come out of it allowing only two runs. So what if he had a good slider? The primary reason that he struggled at the beginning of this season, and in years past, was his absolute lack of ability to throw a baseball to a spot; nothing from last night’s start should encourage Mets fans that Ollie has, or will ever, become the ace that fans seem to expect him to become.
Ollie’s “strand rate” last night was extremely high. Anybody who follows “extra” baseball statistics knows that a high strand rate is unsustainable in the major leagues, which is why so many people are calling Kevin Millwood’s performance this year a fluke; his strand rate is unsustainable. (side note: millwood got shelled two nights ago, as many people predicted would eventually happen due to his strand rate and number of baserunners allowed). Obviously, this will happen with Ollie at some point unless he cuts down on the absurd number of walks.
I’d like to see Ollie shave his ridiculous mohawk. It makes him seem like he’s not taking the season seriously, at a time when Mets fans are bitter and angry. If the team was winning and Ollie was pitching great that would be one thing, but at this point just shave your head, stop with the ridiculous sidearm pitches every now and then, and just focus on finding and repeating your arm slot and getting better. The stupid mohawk is a distraction and I’m sure Mets fans will bring it up as a way to bash him the next time he struggles.
re: mohawk
I hadn’t thought of that, but yeah, strange move for a guy with credibility problems. Bora$ needs to tell the doofus that he has to at least look like a serious pitcher.
Ollie probably already spent his contract $ on hotwheels, so Boras might have some leverage/influence when Ollie goes to his piggybank.
As Ojeda said after the game, batters take a lot more pitches off Ollie because of his walk history. Another pitcher would have got more swings at those balls out of the strike zone….more K’s and less walks.
I can see his point, and agree to some extent.
Trying to fnd positives….he did not melt down completely when he got into trouble…
To state that Ollie needs to work on his command is the understatement of understatements. After seeing Nolan Ryan and Tom Seaver (my all-time favorite player) on the cover of Sports Illustrated, I was wondering whether Ollie would be able to turn the corner like Ryan did. The Mets gave up too soon on Ryan, but I fear that the Mets are basically hoping against hope that Ollie will suddenly find the strike zone. I think that’s a pretty risky bet.
I think it was pathetic how everyone in the organization was ecstatic over Perez’s performance last night. The guy gave up 7 walks in 5 innings, he was lucky. Everyone was so excited about last night’s win that I thought I was watching a Nationals game.
“important, big outs” eh?
Well at least the Mets and Ollie are on message. He couldn’t remember which knee was injured before his Buffalo vacation. I call that progress.
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