Olly’s Plight
I have a lot of fond memories of watching Oliver Perez pitch. When the Mets traded for him on 2006, Oliver was just a throw in from Pittsburgh in the Xavier Nady trade. Olly got here a broken pitcher who had a great 04’ campaign in which he struck out 239 hitters in just 196 innings. Perez gave the Mets two solid starts in the 06’ postseason and showed promise. It seemed like he wanted to get better and regain his form.
Then 07’ happened and Perez won 15 games, looking brilliant in some games and awful in others. He was awarded a 3 year, $36 million dollar contract after the season. Most fans believed it was a bad contract at the time because Perez was too inconsistent, too shaky in important spots. He didn’t deserve all that money and came into the 09’ season completely out of shape. He pitched like he didn’t care and was sent to the “disabled list,” for a “knee injury,” and had a 6.82 ERA in the 14 games he started.
After seven starts this season, the Mets have had it with their $12 million dollar starter. They’ve relegated to him bullpen duty, just like the Cubs did with Carlos Zambrano. Now, Perez is just eating up a roster spot and won’t take a demotion to the minor leagues to get himself right again. The Mets have an overused bullpen and are wasting a roster spot on a guy they can’t use in close games.
You’d think a professional pitcher would want to learn and improve himself. Is pride holding him back or is it the way the Mets approached him? Either way, Perez is going to get paid his $36 million. Why not take the demotion?
Well, I think I have that answer. Oliver Perez doesn’t want to pitch, plain and simple. Let that resonate for a second. Maybe Perez is just lazy and doesn’t want to go to the minors because they’d actually throw him out there every fifth day. He’d have to work! Lazy, unmotivated people don’t want to do such things.
It’s sad, actually. Perez is someone who’s shown immense talent and no will to tap into it. He has great stuff, but his laziness has slowed the velocity on his fastball and taken the edge off his slider. As fans, we expect the players making the big money to, at the very least, give a damn. Olly is one of the few exceptions.
Oliver, if you’re reading this (and you probably aren’t), prove me wrong. Prove everyone wrong. Go to triple-A, dominate and get your rotation spot back. You should be angry; the whole baseball community is mocking you! The Mets are still in contention and they need a starter for the stretch run. You could be that guy.
You could be the hero…it all depends on you.
