Perez likes taste of majors

On the one hand, Chris Perez spent the last two months enjoying every minute of his time with the St. Louis Cardinals in what was his first taste of the major leagues.

But the Cardinals' No. 2 rated prospect by Baseball America was wise enough to soak up all the knowledge he could while he was there. And with that knowledge, Perez, who was sent back to the Redbirds last week, plans to put it all to good use so that the next time he makes the trip up I-55 to St. Louis, it's for a more permanent stay.

''It was great,'' Perez said. ''I was up there for two months, which is a good amount of time. I learned a lot. It was fun. It's the big leagues. It's your dream and I got to do it. Hopefully, I'll get back up there soon and hopefully stay for a longer time.''

Perez is considered to be the Cardinals' closer of the future. Unfortunately, the big league club desperately needs someone to fill that role ASAP.

Perez pitched in 23 games during his stint with St. Louis, going 2-1 while posting a 4.18 ERA in 23.2 innings. He failed to pick up a save in his two save opportunities. Perez did strike out 22 batters while walking 13.

''The hitters are really good up there,'' he said. ''The only way you can find out is by going up there and actually pitching and facing them and finding out what works and what doesn't. What works in Triple-A sometimes doesn't work up there. It's just a game of adjustments. They sent me back down to work on some stuff so I can be more successful up there. Hopefully I'll get back up there and have some more learning opportunities.''

The biggest thing the Cardinals want Perez to work on is developing a consistent second pitch. That means getting better control of his slider, as well as his curveball, to go along with his blistering fastball. He came into the season with Baseball America rating him as having the best fastball and the best slider in the Cardinals' minor league system.

''I got in kind of a funk. I was dropping down and trying to make it do too much,'' Perez said. ''It's tough to work on it up there in the big leagues because the hitters are so good. If you make a mistake, they hit it. So they just wanted me to come down here and work it out in the minor leagues where there's some pressure, but not like it is in the big leagues.''

To help alleviate some of that pressure, Redbirds manager Chris Maloney said Perez will be used primarily in the seventh and eighth innings, as opposed to closing. Before being called up to St. Louis, Perez was the Redbirds closer, posting eight saves in 10 chances.
With Kelvin Jimenez's recent call-up, the closing role will now be split between Jason Motte and Mark Worrell, Maloney said.

While in St. Louis, Perez also had to get used to not closing, something he's been doing since his days at the University of Miami where he became a first-round supplemental pick by the Cardinals in the 2006 draft.

Perez had grown accustomed to knowing he was never going more than two consecutive days without pitching. While in St. Louis, there was no telling when he was going to appear.

''It's a little different,'' Perez said of not closing. ''The game's kind of different later in the game. Hitters are more aggressive trying to get stuff done. In the fifth or six inning, they're still a little patient and trying to wait for their pitch. I had some success in that role, and I also had some failure.

''The way they (the Cardinals) were using me then, I needed two pitches for strikes. Sometimes as a closer, you can just throw a slider as a chase pitch and you don't really have to control it for a strike. That's probably the biggest difference I had to contend with.''

Since rejoining the Redbirds, Perez has made two one-inning scoreless appearances, combining for two hits, four strikeouts and one walk.
''It's nice to have Chris back,'' Maloney said. ''He's definitely a very plus guy to have on your staff.''

Perez is grateful for the taste of major league baseball that he received. If nothing else, it let him know that he can get big league hitters out.
And because of that, Perez plans to work even harder to realize his dream of becoming a big league closer.

''That's my ultimate goal, to be a closer in the big leagues,'' he said. ''It might not be this year. It might not be next year. It might be two years, three years, whatever, but that's my ultimate goal and I'm going to keep working to try to get there.''

(commercialappeal.com)