Well, it looks like Ollie might not be a complete loss this year after all. He spent the last week working in the ‘pen with Spin Williams and looks like he’s smoothed out his delivery a bit and settled down on the mound. He was working at 92-94 tonight and even hit 96 on a great inside fastball to K Clint Barmes. His slider wasn’t very sharp, but we’re talking baby steps here. It’s even possible that he might start working at 93-94 in the next few weeks. He was pounding the strike zone so don’t let his totals (96 pitches, 57 strikes) fool you. When he missed it was usually high and away, meaning his issues were probably all mechanical and not injury-related. That might not seem so encouraging, but all it takes is one good start and he’s a decent bet to find his magic.

He wasn’t flying open as often as he had been early in the season, and he seems to have lost the two-step delivery. Those were the two things that really exposed him to the hitters’ counts and subsequent poundings we all endured this past month.

Granted Colorado is 2-17 on the road, but I’ll take any good news I can get on Perez. 5 IP, 8 Ks, 2 Hits, 4 BB. Again, when he missed it wasn’t inside the zone That’s very, very important. It really seems like he’s had his wake-up call and could be ready to start producing. Once he gathers some steam he’ll bring back that slider and change and then the numbers will start piling up.

Don’t get too enthusiastic, but my guess is he’s ready for a rebound. If he does get hit next time out it’ll only be because he’s lost his delivery and release point.

It’s impossible to predict whether that’ll happen from one start to the next, but keep in mind that he was pretty damn bad in ’03 ST. According to Ollie, all it took was that first good start of the regular season and he was in a 4-month groove.

Update (9/26/05): Oliver is NOT back. He’s still way off on his velocity and his command is just not there. I don’t know if he’ll ever be anything more than an average pitcher again after falling so far, so fast. It kind of makes you wonder what happened to this guy? He picked up the win against LA this week, but the Ks just weren’t there.