Oliver Perez

As I mentioned the other day, after answering Joe's questions to run on MetsToday as a Pirates season preview, I asked Joe a couple questions of my own to run here. I, of course, asked about Oliver Perez to see what the Mets' fans think of our former ace. Here's Joe's reply:

Yes, he's for real. There are games where he looks like one of the most
dominant lefthanders in the NL -- a bonafide ace. And though there have
been a handful of poor appearances, they have been few and far between
and nothing like the meltdowns we saw in 2006 (OK, there was one game
where he went nuclear, but that was in April and it hasn't happened
since). Last year, he was either absolutely awful or surprisingly
brilliant, with most folks expecting the former. However, in 2007 we
expect to see him pitch well -- I think a big difference this year is
that even when he doesn't have his good stuff, he's still able to throw
strikes, compete, and keep the Mets in the game.

Is it Rick Peterson? Is it getting out of Pittsburgh? I think it's a
combination of both. From Ollie's quotes, and what we heard from
Peterson, Perez was very confused about what the Pittsburgh organization
was telling him. I don't know that it was Jim Colborn or someone else,
but when he arrived it was clear that he was mixed up mentally and had
completely lost confidence in himself -- and self-confidence appears to
be key to his success. His facial expressions and body language are the
telltale signs of his performance in any game -- and there's a marked
difference in those indicators when you compare a game from July 2006 to
one in 2007.

With the Mets, Peterson worked on finding the most efficient mechanics,
and has gotten Perez to focus on repeating that delivery. His mechanics
are still not 100% consistent, but he uses the same motion and release
point about 70-85% of the time, which has been good enough.

As I mentioned, confidence is key to Oliver Perez. The more he repeats
his mechanics, the better success he's had, and every good outing seems
to feed his psyche. If he's dominant in the early innings, there's a
good chance he continues through to the 8th or 9th -- solely because his
confidence is riding high.

Now watch, he'll be so keyed up in his start against the Pirates, he'll
pitch himself out the game by the second inning and make everything I
said sound like horsehockey!