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A Perez Idea

An Idea

This is just an idea I had yesterday while watching the game. Oliver Perez was obviously struggling, again, late in the game. I don’t really have a problem with Willie pulling him, although I would’ve left him in, but something needs to be done with this guy. I was thinking about this in the 5th, and here’s what I would’ve liked to see.

Just leave him in.

Let him give up 15 runs. Go to the mound, tell him Heilman and Sosa are sitting back and having a soda and he’s finishing six innings no matter what happens. Perez has strived in pressure situations right? So take away the ‘safety net’ so to speak. Let him learn something about himself, and figure out how to get himself out of these situations, because it’s an important lesson a good pitcher needs to learn.

Would this be an irreparable blow to his confidence if he did give up 15 runs? I don’t really buy into that irreparable stuff anyway, but Perez has already had those in Pittsburgh before coming to the Mets and he managed to bounce back. We know he has great stuff, the problem is it’s a coin flip on whether he’ll be able to throw those great pitches. What will make him take that step to a great pitcher is being able to climb back to that peak after he’s fallen out of stride during a game/inning/batter.

With Santana, Willie can prepare to use the best guys out of the bullpen and mentally prepare for which guys are going to come in that day, because Santana will pitch to within an inning or so of expectation nine out of ten times. Even John Maine usually can be expected to be pretty consistent, even if that consistency is a lower amount of reliable innings. However, with Perez there is still always that possibility that he walks 14 batters in the second inning and you need to piece together the rest of the game. If Willie leaves Perez in there last night, maybe he learns something. Or maybe we lose the game, which we did anyway, and the bullpen gets an extra inning of rest that it might need for tonight.

Getting Perez and most of the starters an extra inning or two I think could be the biggest key to this season. It would allow Willie to use his relievers that are struggling less, and able to go with the hot guys. It doesn’t matter what bullpen you have, if you have to use too many pitchers in one game, likely someone won’t be on his game that day.

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Aggressiveness and Finding the Balance

This team still feels like it’s trying to find that right balance between aggressive and sloppy. The problem seems to be, and this was probably the case last year too, is that when they’re unsure they’re leaning towards aggressive, which leads to sloppy mistakes like forgetting to check a runner back to third, or breaking for the plate like Clark did on the double play Sunday. It translates into hitting too. This is why I don’t believe, and never did, that the team was ever ‘flat’ or ‘uninterested’.

They played hard last September, and they are playing hard now. Maybe too hard. Think about how often Reyes was thrown out last September. He wasn’t doing it just for stats, or selfishness, he was playing aggressively, trying to make things happen, just like _everyone_ says he should do/does. So what happened this year? He seems to be trying to tone down the aggressiveness a little bit, be smarter, but so far it’s not working. Just like it didn’t work when they tried to change how he ran. Reyes, like the rest of the team, needs to find that balance of aggressiveness and smart baseball, and when they do the difference is going to be remarkable.

The difference this year is that last year they succeeded with the aggressiveness early, and maybe they stubbornly stuck to it when it turned bad. This year it’s failing for them early, and they’ll be able to adjust to it and turn it around. It’s not Willie’s fault either. He can only teach, he can’t execute. If they players can’t execute on what they’re being taught, it doesn’t really matter who or what they’re being coached to do. However, this team is too good, and wants it too much, to not be able to execute all season. I thought as much before this season, but so far it doesn’t look like Atlanta or Philadelphia is capable of running away with the division to a point where the Mets can’t catch up; In fact, neither team is ahead of the Mets in the standings.

The biggest concern I have is still the bullpen. Even if Sanchez is as good as he was two years ago, he’s going to almost definitely replace either Muniz or Smith on the roster, and both of those guys have been good. It’s Heilman, who you hope will turn it around like he always does, Schoeneweis and Sosa who have been the biggest culprits, and they won’t be replaced. As the weather gets warmer and the pitchers get more comfortable, I have to believe both Maine, Santana, and hopefully Perez and maybe even Pelfrey will be able to go a little deeper into games more consistency, and allow Willie to more regularly use only the top three or so guys in the bullpen who are doing well, instead of routinely having to trot out the 5th and 6th best relief options they have.