Why Perez should be a pivotal part of '07 for the Mets

At Brooklyn Met Fan, they write about Oliver Perez and why they feel that he will play an important role in the 2007 season:

Regardless of what Omar can finagle by the time we get to opening day the key to the 2007 Mets may very well be the skinny lefty named Oliver Perez.

Perez endeared himself to Met fans with his NLCS Game 7 performance allowing 1 run on 4 hits in 6 innings. He came up huge on the biggest stage of his career and it will hopefully serve as confidence builder for Perez the entire off-season.

When he scuffled his sophomore season the Pads traded him to the Pirates where he blossomed again. His 2004 stats were the real deal - 239 K's in 196 IP, 2.98 ERA and 1.153 WHIP.

But then something went awry causing an implosion in '05. This frustration then compounded itself when he kicked a laundry cart and broke his toe.

Pirate pitching coach Jim Colborn identified Perez's main delivery flaw as rushing his pitches to the plate. "You're seeing his upper body move ahead of his lower body," After unsuccessful attempts to correct Perez the coach debated scraping his philosophy and "allowing him to do whatever he can to regain his 2004 form".

Eventually he was tossed into the Nady for Bert deal this past season and is now under Rick Peterson’s watchful eye.

Peterson's most effective work comes in the off-season when he has pitchers visit him at his Alabama center where he computer analyses their deliveries. I haven’t heard anything about Mets going down there yet but Perez is the guy who needs the most attention.

Peterson has done a lot of good for this organization despite all the heat he's taken for his "10 minutes" comment but Ollie Perez is where he can really earn his money and guru status. Because after all is said and done Ollie Perez is a key to the Met season.