When Jesse Litsch went down with an arm injury in May, causing then long-guy Carlos Villanueva to slide into the rotation, a distinct void was created in the bullpen. In the first month and a half of the season, many starters had been pulled early in ballgames due to either injury or ineffectiveness, and Villanueva proved himself invaluable as he stepped in and threw multiple innings, saving some of the other arms. Villanueva's value didn't lie solely as an inning eater, as in his 13 appearances (24.1 IP) he pitched to a 1.48 ERA and 0.82 WHIP to go along with 21 strikeouts. He kept the Blue Jays in games that they didn't deserve to have a chance at winning.
As I mentioned, his promotion left a void in the bullpen, with no suitable long man in place. Shawn Camp had proven capable of going multiple innings on occasion, but he has shown to be best used in the late innings when a ground ball is absolutely needed. Luis Perez, a Triple-A Las Vegas starting pitcher who had made a few spot appearances earlier in the year, was chosen to take Villanueva's spot.
Luis Perez has been a bit of an enigma in the Blue Jays system since being signed as an undrafted free agent in the summer of 2003. He served exclusively as a starting pitcher and performed extremely well in his first 3 years, averaging over a strikeout per inning and with a GO/AO ratio around 3 -- two things you always look for in young pitchers, strikeouts and groundouts. Once he reached Double-A in 2009, with the trend continuing through 2010, Perez saw his strikeout rate plummet and his GO/AO ratio fall to below 2.4 (still exceptional, but a noticable drop off). In addition to these two key rates falling, both his walk rate and homerun numbers increased, causing his ERA to balloon to a career worst 5.40 in 2010.
Prior to 2011 I had never seen Luis Perez pitch, and as such my opinion of him changed on a regular basis, usually depending upon whose scouting report I'm reading. At the end of last year I had soured on Perez, even suggesting he could be removed from the 40-man and exposed to the Rule 5 draft late last year, as I considered him nothing more than organizational depth. However, after finally watching him pitch, I'm elated that Anthopolous did not give up on him. Perez works a solid three pitch repetoire consisting of a fastball, slider, and changeup. The fastball is hard, averaging ~93 mph thus far, and also carries a lot of sink, which when combined with his slider creates a ton of ground balls. The effectiveness of his fastball came as quite a shock to me. I was aware of it's sharp sink, but I was hearing that he worked 88-89, not 92-93. For a sinkerballer, particularly a left hander, that's the difference between an average offering and a plus pitch. Additionally, he appears to have put a lot of effort into his changeup. He doesn't throw it particularly often -- he works primarily with his sinker -- but the fact that he is capable and willing to throw it adds another dimension for hitters to be concerned with.
While there are examples of short pitchers having success in the major leagues, it's primarily in the bullpen, which is where I think Perez will work in Toronto. For every Roy Oswalt, there are probably 5-10 Jason Frasors. His height isn't the biggest issue, however, as Perez weighs in at a slim 160 lbs. While he has proven capable of throwing 100 pitches in an outing in the minors, one has to question how well his stuff would translate into the 7th inning on a regular basis, facing major league hitters in highly stressful situations. If Perez gets tired and his sinker flattens out, he's likely to get shelled as his slider and changeup aren't good enough to carry the load.
With that being said, I have really enjoyed watching Luis Perez work this year, and I hope that when/if Villanueva returns to the bullpen we are still able to find him a spot in Toronto. Minor league numbers for the past few years aside, it's clear to me that Perez is capable of pitching in the major leagues. The bullpen is likely to once again undergo a major facelift this summer/fall (I don't expect any of Francisco, Rauch, or Dotel to be here in 2012), and I'd be quite comfortable if Perez was the long guy or a middle reliever here for the next couple years.
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