Cionel Perez 2022

[Frobby]

I was somewhat surprised to see this thread didn’t exist already.   

I’m always a little uncomfortable when Cionel Perez enters a game, but for the most part, he’s been getting the job done.   Throwing two shutout innings with an automatic runner on 2B to begin the inning each time is no easy feat.  He did that today, and showed some passion doing it.   I’m pretty stoked about that!   He deserved to get the win.  
 

[Just Regular]

The B-Ref boxscore gives him .632 WPA all by himself for the contribution.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL202205220.shtml

Adley also led team in Pitches Seen again, naturally.

[Aristotelian]

He's definitely got a little Tanner Scott to his game but he has been great. His slider was amazingly effective vs RHB's yesterday. I would hate pitching in those extra inning games but he did an amazing job. 

[Tony-OH]

I will say two things here. I don't miss Tanner Scott, and I enjoy watching Perez pitch. He may not have the best command, but the stuff can be plus at times. He's not going to be a clean inning guy often, but he's shown me the ability to bear down when he needs to. 

I also like the emotion out there a bit. You can see how important doing well is to him. 

Saying that, he's been pretty lucky as he's been hit pretty hard as his EV's and hard hit percentages are pretty bad. The slider has plus verticle (16% above avg) and Horizontal (59%) movement and he has 44% Whiff rate on the pitch, but when he's left it in the zone it's gotten hit hard. He's gotten some swings and misses on his fastball in the zone, but none on his slider which means he has to bury that pitch for it to be effective. 

Luckily for the most part he has, but his xBA (.298, xSLG (.458), xOBA (.368) and XBACON (.466) shows he's been pretty lucky so far. The high XBACON shows he very relient on Whiff for success so far. 

The Orioles have taken his chanegup away so he's a strict two pitch so far as the "sinker" that shows up in baseball savant are probably really just 4-seams that he just threw a little differntly. 

I do see some regression in his future, but his ability miss bats makes him valuable.

[yark14]

Cionel does not get much respect on this board.  Tonight was an other incredible outing for him.  The guy has a 1.2 ERA for crying out loud.  Is there a better left handed mid-late LH reliever in the league right now?  He is an absolute beast.  Can we start giving him some kudos?

Edited August 6, 2022 by yark14

[emmett16]

He’s been remarkably consistent.  I really like the emotion.  He’s a competitor and has some sneaky nasty stuff.  

[Baltimorecuse]

The only reliever I'm more comfortable with is Bautista.  

[Sports Guy]

He’s good..but not this good.

His FIP is about 2 runs higher than his actual ERA.  His xFIP is 2.5 runs higher. His xERA is 3.83.

His K rate is below average and his BB rate is above average.

He throws strikes at a below league average rate.  He misses bats at a slightly above average rate.
 

We talked about this with Lopez..Lopez didn’t have a lot of data in his stats that made you believe regression was in order.  Perez has a lot that says it is.

[xmichaelx]

5 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

He’s good..but not this good.

His FIP is about 2 runs higher than his actual ERA.  His xFIP is 2.5 runs higher. His xERA is 3.83.

His K rate is below average and his BB rate is above average.

He throws strikes at a below league average rate.  He misses bats at a slightly above average rate.
 

We talked about this with Lopez..Lopez didn’t have a lot of data in his stats that made you believe regression was in order.  Perez has a lot that says it is.

Maybe offseasons trade candidate 

[RZNJ]

Losing Jorge Lopez hurt our bullpen depth.  However, the difference between Lopez, Perez, Kriehble, and Tate is negligible.   You want to argue Lopez is the best of the bunch?  No problem but it's not a big difference.  We just need Baker and Vespi to step in and provide the depth.

Perez, of course, is not a 1.15 era dominant pitcher but he's good.

Edited August 6, 2022 by RZNJ

[Aristotelian]

2 hours ago, RZNJ said:

Losing Jorge Lopez hurt our bullpen depth.  However, the difference between Lopez, Perez, Kriehble, and Tate is negligible.   You want to argue Lopez is the best of the bunch?  No problem but it's not a big difference.  We just need Baker and Vespi to step in and provide the depth.

Perez, of course, is not a 1.15 era dominant pitcher but he's good.

Don't forget Akin, he has been great and could start getting some higher leverage chances. 

[RZNJ]

6 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Don't forget Akin, he has been great and could start getting some higher leverage chances. 

Right.  I did forget to mention him.   The thing is, if Vespi and Baker can take a step up, and I think Vespi despite one bad outing, has demonstrated he can be trusted.   Baker was coming along nicely and has had 3 straight appearances when he wasn't awful but couldn't get the job done.   You can see the potential to be a solid setup man though.   Those two give us the depth.  We lose a little without Lopez, mostly because Tate becomes more important in the 7th-8th inning where Bautista was before and I think that's a definite drop in effectiveness but the overall depth of the bullpen can still be very good.

Edited August 6, 2022 by RZNJ

[sportsfan8703]

34 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Right.  I did forget to mention him.   The thing is, if Vespi and Baker can take a step up, and I think Vespi despite one bad outing, has demonstrated he can be trusted.   Baker was coming along nicely and has had 3 straight appearances when he wasn't awful but couldn't get the job done.   You can see the potential to be a solid setup man though.   Those two give us the depth.  We lose a little without Lopez, mostly because Tate becomes more important in the 7th-8th inning where Bautista was before and I think that's a definite drop in effectiveness but the overall depth of the bullpen can still be very good.

Your spot on about Vespi and Baker. Vespi had that one bad outing. Baker is just a guy that you have to have a short leash with. Some nights he can get you a big inning or two, but some nights you need Perez to come in and clean up his messes. 

[sportsfan8703]

Just now, sportsfan8703 said:

You’re spot on about Vespi and Baker. Vespi had that one bad outing. Baker is just a guy that you have to have a short leash with. Some nights he can get you a big inning or two, but some nights you need Perez to come in and clean up his messes. 

 

[Jim'sKid26]

Relievers are fungible assets. The O's clearly have a formula to identify guys who are available at a low cost and deliver quality innings. Credit to Sig and company to find them and the PCs to get them to perform. The performance of the bullpen this year really points to the maturation of the organization as a whole.