Oliver Perez Through Two Months

I'm not so sure what my obsession is with Ollie. I feel like I comment and post about him far too much considering he's no longer with the Pirates.  I have to assume it's twofold:  He's on my fantasy team in my main money league, and the Bucs traded him for almost nothing.  Regardless, here's his season synopsis:

63.2 IP, 2.69 ERA, 61/18 K/BB, 47 H, 9 HR.

First things first, it needs to be said that Ollie has the skill set to excel in the majors.  He did it for an entire season in 2004 and he's only 25.

When he struggled mightily in '05 and '06, he had 2 main problems which we're all too familiar with: lack of control, and lack of velocity.  He still isn't throwing hard, as I've generally seen him around 90-92, and he's still susceptible to the long ball, but my god, look at those command numbers.  He's still striking out 8.6 batters per 9, which means his slider is filthy as ever, and his main nemesis, the base on balls, isn't even remotely a problem thus far, with only 18 through 63 innings.  That's only 2.5 per 9, which is stellar... almost as stellar as his 3.4 K/BB ratio.  

If you want to really get sick, look at him thus far in '07 compared to his dominating 2004:

'04: 11 K/9, 3.7 BB/9, 3 K/BB
'07: 8.6 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, 3.4 K/BB

He's actually probably marginally better WITHOUT throwing 96.  Go figure.  Now his hit rate is low at 24%, and his strand rate is high at 82% (league averages are 30% and 75% respectively), so his ERA is slightly unearned, but those skills are strong, and he should continue to pitch well barring any control setbacks.  

I understand he had little to no value when the Bucs dealt him, and he sure as hell wasn't turning it around with the current coaching staff, but I think this further strengthens the argument that this organization is a disaster, top to bottom.