Odalis Perez


ODALIS PEREZ - LOS ANGELES DODGERS

Starting Pitcher
Age: 24 (June 11, 1978)
Height: 6-0 Weight: 150
Throws: Left Bats: Left


HISTORY

Apparently if you are born in the Spanish-speaking world and are a lefty pitcher, there is a good chance that your last name is Perez. So make sure to get all your Perez’s straight: Yorkis and Carlos are now retired thankfully; and the new generation is Oliver (Padres) and Odalis.

The Atlanta Braves signed Odalis as a non-drafted free agent on July 2, 1994. He pitched brilliantly in the minors from day one and was called up to the big show at the age of 20 in September of 1998. In the spring of 1999, Perez and Bruce Chen squared off in spring training for the 5th spot in the vaunted Braves rotation. Chen ended up having a terrible spring and Perez was named the 5th starter. However being the 5th man in the Braves rotation has its drawbacks as his spot in the rotation was passed over whenever there was an off day. His rookie campaign showed flashes of brilliance but overall Perez walked too many (53 in 93 innings) and ended up with a 6.00 ERA in 17 starts.

At the end of July 1999, Perez was put on the DL with a sprained left elbow, which was later diagnosed as a torn MCL. In August, Perez had “Tommy John” surgery and would spend all of 2000 rehabbing his newly constructed elbow.

Odalis began throwing again in October of 2000. After a strong showing in the Dominican league, Perez came to spring training with high hopes once again. 2001 was another up and down year for Perez as Bobby Cox moved him in and out of the rotation throughout the year and Perez also missed time with a cut on his pitching hand. But only a year removed from surgery, Perez looked like the same pitcher of old with the same low 90s fastball, slider, hard curve and change-up. Perez produced a terrible 8.31 ERA from the bullpen, but was 6-6 with a 4.57 ERA as a starter.

In the winter of 2002, the Braves traded OF Brian Jordan and Perez to the Los Angeles Dodgers for OF Gary Sheffield. While baseball fans in Los Angeles were happy to see the oft-disgruntled Sheffield leave town, they only knew Jordan on the other side of the deal and felt like they were getting the short end of the stick.

SPRING TRAINING 2002

The Dodgers came into camp with seven starters for fill the rotation. Perez showed up with 3 new faces (Ishii, Nomo, Daal) to compete with the returning faces (Brown, Ashby, Gagne). Perez pitched well from the start and early on manager Jim Tracy said that Perez would make the rotation as he was acquired from the Braves because of his ability and wasn’t just a throw-in from the Sheffield trade.

ALL-STAR SHOWING

Perez pitched well from his first start and was the biggest first half surprise on the first place Dodgers. Perez really raised some eyebrows in his 3rd start of the year in which he threw a 5 hitter in Coors. In his 5th start of the year, Perez threw a one-hit shutout against the Cubs; throwing only 91 pitches. Perez credited his success on being more aggressive than in previous years as he said that the Braves’s philosophy preached away, away, away. In June, he threw his second one-hit shutout, this time against the Rockies; this time needing only 87 pitches. In July, Bob Brenly elected Perez to his first All-Star game. In the first half, Perez went 10-4 with a 2.81 ERA and 0.91 WHIP.

LOOKING FORWARD

Perez’s previous career high in innings pitched was 167 back in 1998. He’s already thrown 144.1 innings this year and is less than two years removed from Tommy John surgery. He’s really struggled in his last five starts going 1-4 with a 7.31 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP. A couple of days ago, Perez asked Jim Tracy to skip his next start to give him a chance to rest his arm for the second half. However, Perez has reconsidered his decision with two off-days later this week. As a fantasy owner, I’d be extremely concerned about Perez’s recent performance because of his injury history. That said, he hasn’t thrown that many pitches and has only topped the 100-pitch mark in 5 of 21 starts. His situation definitely bears a close watch.

The long-term future is extremely bright for this 24-year-old left-hander. He’s extremely efficient in his pitching, as he doesn’t walk many hitters. He changes speeds extremely well and is an extremely intelligent pitcher; I’m sure he learned a lot from pitching with Glavine, Smoltz and Maddux. In keeper leagues, I think Perez is a great choice for the future – pitching in Dodger Stadium only enhances his value.

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Chris Wang
Dodgers Correspondent