Understanding Oliver Perez

Currently Oliver Perez is 2-1 with a 3.31 ERA. These days statistics like that are very respectable for a starting pitcher. It’s certainly not bordering on Bob Gibson territory, but respectable.

Perez’ stats don’t tell the whole story. He’s been a roller coaster ride full of extreme highs and extreme lows. I have a feeling that we need to get used to that. His story is the opposite of Tom Glavine, who’s been the model of consistency over his long career.

Yesterday, Perez was masterful through the sixth inning.  He ended up going 6.2 innings with 9 K’s and no walks. That’s right… no walks!  Who would’ve ever guessed that?

I can see that Rick Peterson has made some improvements while coaching Perez. He doesn’t look like he’s overthrowing his fastball as often as he used to. Now the key is to start working on consistently good starts.

Wright’s Hit Streak Ends, Who Cares?

David Wright’s streak of hits in 26 consecutive games ended last night. Unless a player is closing in on Pete Rose’s NL record 44 games, or Joe DiMaggio’s major league record 56 games it really doesn’t matter. Who cares?

The Mets dropped one to the Braves last night 7-3, moving to 2nd place behind those same Braves. I know that Tim Hudson was the story, pitching an excellent game, but what about the Mets questionable pitching? Pelfrey was bad, so was Feliciano and Burgos showed us why the lowly Royals couldn’t wait to get rid of him. The Mets pitching is really suffering without Pedro Martinez and Duaner Sanchez.  They’ll outhit the bad teams with their excellent lineup, but they’ll struggle against teams that can pitch.

Today’s Game Rained Out

WFAN radio is reporting that today’s game is rained out, and hasn’t been re-scheduled yet.

Pitching Staff Comes Back to Earth

The first week of the season was like a dream. John Maine and Oliver Perez were lights out. El Duque looked like he was 30 again. This week things aren’t looking so great. The Mets are still tied for first place with the Braves at 7-3. But we can see why everyone was so concerned about the pitchers before the season started. Maine and Perez both struggled in their second starts. Last night Mike Pelfrey came back from the minors and was shaky, wild, and didn’t even make it out of the sixth inning (the benchmark for a quality start).

I know the cold wet weather has been dreadful in the early part of the season. Today is a perfect mid-50’s day for baseball but there’s a big storm coming in that should last for the next three days. There’s no discounting that the terrible April weather has affected the game for many teams.

The Mets really miss Pedro Martinez. They need that #1 starter. For most teams Glavine would be a 2, El Duque a 4, Maine a 5, and Perez and Pelfrey would be honing their skills in AAA. I know that Oliver Perez has flashes of brilliance, but he’s frustratingly inconsistent.  Mike Pelfrey just needs more time to prepare to face major league hitters. He even had a rough start in single A last week in Florida.

Even with these obvious deficiencies, I think the Mets are in better shape than they were last season. Jose Lima made four starts last year. I think that says it all! We’re going to see Aaron Sele or Chan Ho Park making starts at some point in the near future. I’m not excited by that prospect, but it’s no fun watching Perez and Pelfrey walking every other batter either.

Need a win tonight!

The Mets really need Tom Glavine in a big way tonight.  If they lose tonight, they’ll have lost a series to the Braves and Phillies.  They can’t let that happen.  The good news is that the Nationals are coming to town.  Wow, they are so bad! I think they’ll have a losing season of historic proportions this year.