Last weekend, Mets LHP Oliver Perez talked to Noroesta, an online Mexican newspaper.
…thanks, as always, to Andres M for the link and translation…
According to Perez, he did not feel any pressure last season, after signing a three-year, $36 million contract with the Mets last off season.
Instead, he said, “My knee started to bother me. I tried to follow my routine, but it got worse with time. Sometimes I pitched with pain, and definitely things didn’t work out for me.”
As such, this off-season, Perez has been training in Arizona at the Athletes Performance Institute, which is a high-tech fitness boot camp for professional athletes, with a focus on nutrition, metabolic testing, cardiovascular work, drills and media training.
In regards to API and 2010, he said:
“The Mets recommended this place. I wake up at 6 everyday. Right now. I’m making bullpens and following the program that they gave me, running a little and throwing. I have to follow my routine, because the team is coming to check me out soon, and I want to report to Spring Training in February… I want to be healthy, because it’s not easy coming from surgery, and having been trough that was very difficult; but it is what it is, I have to think positive for 2010.”
…like i said a few weeks ago, from what i can gather, Carlos Beltran played a hand in encouraging perez to go to Arizona… i like when i hear stories about players like ollie making this type of additional effort in the off-season… of course, i’m always skeptical… but, last off season, i read and heard a lot about how hard Luis Castillo had been working, at the team’s facility in the Dominican Republic, and, sure enough, he played in 142 games and hit .302… i would love to see a similar turn-around for perez, who obviously has the talent to be a tremendous pitcher… he just has no idea how to harness it… whether that is because of physical or mental instability, i have no idea, but hopefully the Athletes Performance Institute can figure it out… i would love to see him get it together and have a dominant season… he and the team could use it…
Perez was just 3–4 with a 6.82 ERA in 14 sporadic starts in 2009.
Perhaps I am just so skeptical that I am warping my perspective, but I am not buying into the notion of Ollie turning over a new leaf.
Although this is translated text (and lacking tone of voice), saying things like “The Mets recommended this place” and “I have to follow my routine because the team is coming to check me out soon” and “it is what it is, I have to think positive for 2010″ don’t leave me thinking he is a driven man. It sounds more like a guy who reluctantly went to a camp and had surgery because the Mets told him to. Sounds like a guy who wants to get in shape only because the Mets are coming to check up on him. Sounds like a guy who has to remind himself to be positive.
I will not shut the door entirely, however, because everyone can change. I personally went through a change of attitude about life and work when I was around 20, so it’s possible, but Perez is running out of time to really capitalize on his talents and become the difference maker he has to the potential to be.
I would be happy if they left him in AZ all season.
Not everyone is super driven win at all costs type players. Everyone’s different, and if we had a better manager and pitching coach, they could harness that from Perez (and others) instead of following their one track minds to doom and getting the least out of guys like Perez.
Dominant would be nice…I’d be happy with pretty good from this guy.He has as much talent as any free agent pitcher available to us.
190-210 IP…ERA under 4 would be a good start.
Heck at this point I would settle for CONSISTENTLY AVERAGE from OP at this point, rather than the roller coaster that has become Oliver Perez!
I’ll keep my fingers crossed but I will not hold my breath.
He wants to be ready by spring training? Did I read that right??
I was thinking the same thing. Can anybody clarify this statement. I assume that since he is throwing at this “boot camp,” that he will be ready, but to hear him say that is a little strange.
Look, due to his salary OllieP will be a starter for the team this season, health permitting. So what is there to lose? He can´t be any worse than last year…
I agree, and, the thing is, it’s his brain, right? It’s focus. And, unless this place gets him to do those sorts of things, I am skeptical of how it will make a lasting impression on him. My fear is, after this training routine, he’ll just be in better shape when walking eight guys in an inning.
I hear part of the program is to watch and learn that old snl skit…
I’m good enough…I’m smart enough and gosh darn it…people like me.
Well, his better shape has generally had that sporadic good game. It means he’ll have the ability to get throw that big pitch that was being hit out last year due to his injury.
the rest is head stuff..and Warthen/Manuel’s failure as well. Someone needs to teach (not preach) him to understand what goes into planning a pitching sequence and game, and why walks are bad. Right now, Ollie thinks walks are just that, walks. nothing. Get the next guy out and you’re fine right? You can tell him it increases the damage if he makes a mistake, and he’d reply “I shouldn’t be making mistakes” etc. Tell him it’s shortening his outings and he’ll tell you, well don’t take me out at 100 pitches then.
Peterson seemed more concerned with having him have repeatable mechanics, which is all good but I think that’s treating the symptom and not the problem. The problem is his approach and gameplan. If he’s got a plan, it’s not a big deal if he drops down sidearm for a pitch to confuse the batter. Good pitching coaches should be able to get through to guys like Perez, and make him understand.
Peterson was very stingent on Perez’s mechanics because Perez likes to come up with different arm angles and stand at different spots on the rubber while in the middle of an at bat. Even last year he started to pause at the top of his delivery. In the few years he’s been a Met, he’s had a different glitch in his mechanics every year. He needs to find something that works and then just stick with it and have that windup for the rest of his career. You don’t see Santana going out there with a different look every game. His mechanics are the same everyday!
Bringing in Molina would also be a benefit to Perez because Warthen didn’t like how Schneider or Santo’s called a game. They couldn’t real in Perez and Perez pitched his game. They need a guy with some veteran presence and past success and say to Perez i’m calling the game, no more coming up with your own pitches. I know how to call a game so trust me and lets stick to the game plan.
catcher can’t control arm slot or rubber location. I’m okay with it at times, as long as he’s in control, but he rarely is. Warthen let him loose, but too loose. I do think a little freedom does PErez well, but he needs the rigid mechanics too.
A good catcher can definitely help control Perez’s arm slot and mechanics. A catcher needs to be an extension of the pitching coach where if Warthen or Molina sees that Perez is dropping his shoulder or trying to get fancy on the mound, Molina can go yell at him and get him back in line. Warthen can only go out to the mound once per inning, where we’ve seen a catcher can go out to the mound every pitch (AKA Posada) and make sure that he keeps Perez in line. How many times have we seen Perez throw 5 shut out great inning and then it all falls apart and he’s given up 6 runs in 5 2/3rds innings because he can’t stop the bleeding? If Molina can get him thru that inning, he may be able to stay in the game another inning or 2 or the Mets can atleast still be in the game.
I can agree that sometimes all that’s needed is that one good pat on the shoulder/correction in an inning, but I don’t know if Molina’s going to do that on his own, without it being the overall gameplan of the pitching coach, which it won’t be because Warthen sucks.
Even when Warthen does come out to the mound, it seems to always be one batter too late.
I think a veteran catcher (esp a guy who speaks spanish) can help a guy like Ollie. If that is what Molina gives, he will be worth the DPs he’ll hit into.
I agree that it his brain and a lack of focus that appears to be what hurts him most often, but I disagree with how you say he will just be in better shape to walk eight guys an inning. Pitchers need to be in probably the best shape of any ballplayer to be able repeat the same motion again and again; and starters even more so since they need to do the same motion about 100 times (and thats just during the game), once every 5 days, about 33 times over 6 months; and in the NL they have to bat and run the bases. Last year, rumors were that Ollie was out of shape and one could tell just watching him pitch as he had lost speed, and had even worse control than ever; you could even see a difference in motion from pitch to pitch. Improved conditioning should get some speed back on the fastball and make it easier for him to repeat his proper delivery more often. Also, before last year, sometimes Ollie would be in control of a game but then have to run the bases and when he returned he would be wild – seems like it was because he wasn’t in good shape. So there certainly appears to be evidence that being in better shape should lead to a more consistent Ollie Perez, but he still is Ollie and that is why hardly no one has faith in him.
On a related note, if you don’t know the story of how Stephen Strasburg became so good, read this –
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=3884236
getting in shape can make a difference…
Hey, he’s working out every day, which is a heck of a lot more than he did last year. And no WBC this year to keep him away from the team. Gotta hope that at least at the level of going through the motions of getting ready earlier will instill some level of body memory in him, and getting to camp with everyone else and having Beltran and Santana ride herd on him (my favorite part of the post is that Beltran told him to do this–goCarlos, grab some leadership!) will result in some measure of a better showing this year!
Its good that he’s making an effort. Lets see how this works out.
I think Oliver gets bashed by the fans unfailrly, the guy was clearly hurt last year and he try to gut it out, when healthy he can be a very good pitcher, the guy was trying to pitch with knee pain, come on, give the dude a break.
A healthy Perez will be the short term equal of any pitcher that could have been acquired this offseason (with special note to anyone who is delusional, Halladay could not have been acquired by the Mets for many reasons, not least of which he did not want to be here)
I looked at the original article in Spanish, and he´s quoted as saying that he wants to show up early to ST to practice.
When he is right he has some killer games, i really hope this will help him. I think it’s more a mental thing with Ollie. Judging by his comments seems to me the guy has poor self esteem and or confidence.
As erratic as Ollie is on the mound, mentally and physically, he can have excellent, dominant stuff. I would love to see a mentally and physically healthy Ollie out there.
While unlikely, he has the stuff to throw the Mets first No-No.
“Pérez tiene alrededor de 10 días que llegó a Culiacán, pero descarta totalmente que vaya a lanzar con los Tomateros.”
If my Spanish is correct, this says – “Perez has around 10 days until he arrives in Culliacan, but he hasn’t ruled out pitching for the [Mexican Baseball team called the] Tomateros.”
Thats odd and surprising to hear, and I am not sure if I feel that would be a positive or a negative, him pitching for another team before Spring Training. It is better than him going home to do nothing and lose the conditioning he got at API. I am just glad that he will be at the Mets camp all Spring Training so the higher-ups can decide if he is worth keeping around or not.
“Pérez tiene alrededor de 10 días que llegó a Culiacán, pero descarta totalmente que vaya a lanzar con los Tomateros.”
Perez arrived at Culiacán 10 days ago and has completely ruled out pitching for the Tomateros. Apparently the Mets will be making some visits to check how he is doing and if he is following the program. He is planning to report to ST early next season.
The Mets should use the rotation as if Perez will be their 5th starter. Just don’t expect much from him, but with potential of very good improvement vs last season. I still think they should add two more pitchers (trade and/or free agent), but doubt it will happen:
Example:
Santana
Harang (trade)
Pelfrey
Garland (FA) or Maine
Perez