Oliver Perez: lost his control?

[CPHFighter1]

Game 1: 3 walks and a wild pitch in 5 innings.
Game 2: 5 walks and a wild pitch in 4 innings.

His walk rate was a tad higher than the other pitchers in his tier last year, but this is extraordinarily high. This doesn't look like he's hurt; it seems to be just in his head. When pitchers start losing control of their best pitches, they tend to try to just get the ball over the plate, which is likley the cause of Brian Giles 400 foot home run yesterday.

Any thoughts from Pittsburgh or elsewhere what is wrong with him?

[raiders_umpire]

i think u have it right .... wildness is his problem now,,, giving up a walk a inning so far is not very good.... and to go along with the walks he is also leaving some fastballs down the middle where the pitch can be tagged.....

[Secret Avatar]

Yeah, his first two starts were UGLY. I don't think it was just his control. His velocity seemed to be down as well. The commentators even noted that he wasn't throwing heat like he did last year. But I wouldn't start to worry yet. It's only the first week of the season. He could easily bounce back. Hell, even RJ didn't have his A-game yesterday.

[King Tim]

"Just like spring training, don't put too much emphasis on a pitcher's first start of the season. Pirates ace Oliver Perez gave up six earned runs in only five innings, but no one should be thinking about reserving him this early. Remember that some pitchers, like Perez, got a late start to their spring and were unable to get enough exhibition innings in before the games counted for real."

I'd give him a few more starts before starting to worry.

[rlee]

Remember how everyone was jumping off the Santana bandwagon last year? He was a bigger dumping ground than a landfill

Lots of people bailed on him, and what happened? Oh, that's right, the most dominating pitcher in MLB.

Since I just drafted Ollie the other night, I 'm hoping history repeats itself and he'll get things straightened out

[hybrid]

Remember how everyone was jumping off the Santana bandwagon last year? He was a bigger dumping ground than a landfill

Lots of people bailed on him, and what happened? Oh, that's right, the most dominating pitcher in MLB.

Since I just drafted Ollie the other night, I 'm hoping history repeats itself and he'll get things straightened out

And the winner for most emoticons in a post goes too....

But seriously, it's obviously to early to jump ship. Though I think people should be tad worried, cause this is what plagued him all the time before last year. Pitchers can and do regress, especially when they are young and haven't matered their control yet. His control was better last year, but not good enough to say he wasn't at risk too wildness again.

[cordscords]

i think ollie takes a step down this year. he should be a #3 starter on a fantasy team.

[Strasil42]

i think ollie takes a step down this year. he should be a #3 starter on a fantasy team.

no

[cordscords]

i think ollie takes a step down this year. he should be a #3 starter on a fantasy team.

no

yes

[CPHFighter1]

Ollie is not a pitcher that will just regress into a #3 starter. He's either going to put up numbers at or better than last year, or he's going to lose some control and kill your ERA and WHIP. In the latter case, he'll probably be less than a #3 starter. He doesn't get wins, so that leaves him as a one category guy (Ks).
The loss in velocity someone mentioned is cause for concern. I am hoping his short spring caused it, and in a few more starts will be throwing gas again and getting his nasty stuff over the plate. Regardless of that, the K's will be there.