Perez Prints Ticket to Buffalo With Terrible Start

Besides game seven of the 2006 NLCS, this was probably the biggest start of Oliver Perez's career.  If he shows ANY positive signs, he will be guaranteed to make at least one more start.

Those hopes exploded.  Early, and often.

Perez's afternoon ended far too early, as he only recorded seven outs.  He gave up four earned runs while walking six, including four in the third inning.  The last was to Jamie Moyer, who took the fourth ball with the bases loaded to force in a run.  Apparently that was all Manuel needed to see, as Perez did not get a chance to try and get out of the jam. 

The Mets lost the game 6-5 in ten innings, but that isn't the big issue today.  The issue is our big free agent pitcher re-acquistion can't throw strikes or get outs.  The question is not if Perez will be better his next time out (his next time out would be Thursday against the Phillies at Citi Field).  The question is where Perez will find himself in the next few days, in the bullpen, or in Buffalo.

If you're the Mets, sending Perez down has to be option No. 1.  He can work out his problems, whatever they may be, without impacting the big league club. 

Tim Redding should be ready to pitch soon, so he, Nelson Figueroa, or Jon Niese could take his spot temporarily.  The only uncertainty with the minor league assignment is: How long will this take?

It could take a week or two.  It could take about a month.  If I'm the Mets, I keep him down there as long as possibly affordable.  If he pitches one good game, it would be foolish to bring him back up just because of that.  We've seen that act before.  You need to see three, maybe even four, consistent starts in a row before bringing him up becomes an option. 

I saw an excellent piece on Baseball Tonight about Perez.  Eduardo Perez explained how "stiff" Perez looked on the mound, and how he was trying to be "too mechanical."  I know what your thinking: Too mechanical?

They flashed back to Perez last year, when he was on.  He was flailing all over the place, and striking out batters like it was going out of style.  He was going towards the plate with force.  Then they showed clips of Perez today.  He wasn't using his body at all.  Instead of spinning out of control, he stood up straight while releasing the ball.

That's not Perez's style.  He needs to find the happy medium between being too prim and proper, and spinning himself into the ground.  Because we all know that even though he had some good starts while he was using his herky-jerky motions, he had some equally bad starts. 

Expect him to be sent down in the next couple days, because there is no way the Mets let him start Thursday at Citi Field.  The fan reaction, if he fails, will be devastating.  He needs to refocus and relearn down in the minors. 

And no, the bullpen is not an option.  He won't learn anything new, and he'll still be in the same atmosphere he is currently.  Let him go on a retreat, and see if he can come back the way he has been before (hopefully more consistent).  If he can't...well, that's not feasible at the moment.