Oliver Perez
From The Met Wiki
| Age: 27 (born Aug. 15, 1981) |
| Position: Starting Pitcher |
| Bats: Left Throws: Left |
| Number: 46 |
| Acquired: With Roberto Hernandez for Xavier Nady on July 31, 2006 |
| Contract: 3 year, $36 million, 2009-2011 |
It takes special circumstances for a healthy pitcher who just signed a $36 million contract to be removed from the rotation, but that's the case with Oliver Perez. Perez has been falsely accused of not caring or not working hard, but there’s no evidence for that. At the plate he already has two infield hits, including a beautiful bunt single, each time storming down the line to beat the play. He’s emotional on the mound. He seems to work hard between starts. He’s just been unable to throw strikes.
General consensus on Oliver Perez is that he’s one of the hardest pitchers to hit in the game. Tim McCarver once commented that with other pitchers “control” meant being able to hit precise spots, but that Oliver Perez’s stuff is so good that he just has to get the ball over the plate.
The final straw for Perez was Saturday May 2 in Philadelphia, when he walked the opposing pitcher with the bases loaded to force in the Phillies’ fourth run, with just one out in the third. Perez was saved by the debut of the third oldest rookie in Major League Baseball history, Ken Takahashi, who needed just one pitch to get a strange 1-2-6 double play. Takahashi knocked down a line drive to the mound, and got the force at the plate Jamie Moyer went back to first to avoid the line drive double play and couldn’t get to second in time. The double play prevented any of the 3 inherited runners from scoring, and kept Perez’s ERA in the single digits, at 9.97. Takahashi was slated to take Perez's spot in the rotation, before the Mets decided to put Perez on the 15 day disabled list and call up Jon Niese.
On the bright side – Perez is second on the Mets in OPS at .929, thanks to three hits and a walk in eight trips to the plate. Unfortunately, Perez’s OPS against is even higher, essentially making every opposing hitter look like Albert Pujols.
The Mets acquired Oliver Perez along with Roberto Hernandez from the Pittsburgh Pirates on July, 31 2006. The main purpose of the deal was acquiring the reliever Hernandez, who had been the Mets' 2005 8th inning man, to replace Duaner Sanchez who had a traffic accident that morning, 24 hours before the trading deadline.
Perez had a great season for the Pirates in 2004, the year he turned 23. In 30 starts Perez had a 2.98 ERA (sixth in the league) and 239 strikeouts. But then he struggled, and was sent to the Mets as a throw-in, after having an ERA above 6 over the next two seasons.
Despite being the NL's best team in 2006,the Mets found themselves desperate for starting pitching going into the postseason. Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez both went down in late September. Brian Bannister had gone down early in the season, and the Mets never found a replacement. And for various reasons the Mets elected not to throw Steve Trachsel in the NLCS. And suddenly not only was rookie John Maine in the postseason rotation, but Oliver Perez got a spot as well.
Perez earned himself a reputation as a big game pitcher largely because of the NLCS. He won game 4, and then started game 7. ESPN's Rob Neyer called him the worst game 7 starter ever. But Perez threw six innings and gave up just one run. On the other hand ... Perez's game 4 win was thanks to 13 runs of support. Perez gave up 5 runs and didn't get out of the sixth. His game 7 performance was awfully close to being three runs in five and a third, but Endy Chavez turned a two run homer into an inning-ending double play.
Perez was strong in 2007, and enhanced his "big game" image with excellent starts against the Phillies, Yankees, and Braves. And yet ... in his six starts during the Mets two collapses, Perez had an ERA of 5.33. In three of the six starts he failed to complete the fifth inning, and only once did he reach the seventh.
After his horrendous 2009 start Perez first indicated that he would agree to a Minor League assignment. Then he backtracked. Then the Mets mentioned that he had some knee problems. Then they announced that the would move him to the bullpen, but it was unclear what he would do there. Perhaps be an intentional walk specialist. He could be a left-handed specialist, but his high walk ratios (21 walks in 21 2/3 innings) may make that dangerous in close games.
On May 7 the Mets announced that they would send Perez to the 15 day DL and give Jon Niese another chance to start in the big leagues.
