Maybe those really weren't boos Oliver Perez heard upon his introduction at Citi Field on Opening Night.
Given Met pitching coach Dan Warthen's spring-training assertion that Perez was out of shape and had gained weight, it's possible the sellout crowd was really serenading Perez with "moo!" If Perez wants the boos, moos and jokes to disappear, tonight would be as good a time as any to get his act together and give the Mets something resembling a quality outing.
The fact Perez was dreadful in his first start of the season last week, in Cincinnati, isn't a major cause for alarm, except that it came on the heels of an awful few weeks of spring training for the lefty after he returned from the World Baseball Classic.
Something has to change for Perez, and fast.
Manager Jerry Manuel had just finished explaining on Monday that Mike Pelfrey is in a rut when the topic turned to Perez and his scheduled start tonight against the Padres.
"Ollie, I don't know if he's going through anything at this point, either, but we don't need him to be," Manuel said.
"We can't have every starter going through something. Somebody has to give us a good shot."
Perez didn't give the Mets much of a chance against the Reds last Thursday, when he allowed eight runs in 41/3 innings.
It followed an exhibition start against the Red Sox at Citi Field in which Perez lasted just two-thirds of an inning. If that's all you get for $36 million, maybe the Mets should have signed Derek Lowe.
"I understand the last game I didn't pitch well and then the exhibition game, it wasn't really good," Perez said. "I'm better than that, and I will do everything I can to get better."
Perez said he expected the boos - or moos - he received on Monday during pregame introductions, after his teammates had warned him.
He's hoping his first regular-season start at the new ballpark will start swaying attitudes in the opposite direction.
"This is my field," Perez said. "Everybody wants to come home and try to do their best, but sometimes it doesn't happen. It's not easy to play Baseball."
Perez should just convince himself the Padres are really as good as their first place standing in the NL West suggests, instead of the team many predict will finish in the division basement. Most of Perez's best performances have come against playoff-caliber teams, but he often struggles against the weaklings.
"He's always fought with the consistency issue," David Wright said.
"It seems like he rebounds better than any starting pitcher out there."
