St. Louis Cardinals reliever Chris Perez works on throwing motion

JUPITER, Fla. — Arguably the leading candidate for the Cardinals' vacant closers role, second-year righthander Chris Perez is scheduled to throw his first official bullpen session of spring training Sunday. He's working on something new and plans to bring back a little of something old.

In his past two sessions with pitching coach Dave Duncan, Perez has been stopped in the middle to correct what coaches see as a flaw in his arm path. They want him to try and get the same motion whether he's throwing his high-heat fastball or his under-construction slider.

"My mechanics feel good," Perez said. "Right now, it's not my mechanics, it's just the angle my arm takes as I throw the ball. They want to make it the same from one pitch to the other. That way I'm not giving up the pitch by having two different release points."

Perez saved seven games for the Cardinals last season and since being drafted in 2006 he's been billed as the club's future closer. He comes to camp as part of a competition or a committee for the role — depending on perception — and must develop his second pitch to strengthen his claim. Improving the consistency of his arm path is new.

What he uses as his second pitch could be old.

Perez usually uses his curveball early in spring training and builds toward throwing the slider that he uses during the regular season. This year, he's considering keeping the curve and nurturing it as more than a show pitch.

"It's been looking good," Perez said. "Coach Marty (Mason) told me to throw a curve or a slider. Whether I can throw it consistently is the most important thing. They want me to have one. They don't care which."

(stltoday.com)