centerfield maz

Oliver (Martinez) Perez was Born on August 15, 1981 in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico. He originally signed in the Mexican League at 16 years old but did not pitch. The six foot three left hander was signed as an amateur free agent by the San Diego Padres in 1999. At the start of his career he had a good fastball & was a big strike out pitcher. In 2001 he struck out 160 batters in 154 innings pitched going 10-9 at A ball. In 2002 he blew up the ranks from A ball to AA, to AAAA debuting in the major leagues on June 16th. He won his first two starts beating the Seattle Mariners & the AL New York club, striking out ten batters in eleven innings. He wound up 4-5 on the year with a 3.50 ERA. He went 4-7 the next season but struck out 117 batters in 103 innings. in San Diego before the Padres traded him on August 26, 2003 along with Jason Bay to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Brian Giles. The rest of the year he fell to 0-3. In 2004 he had his best season on a fifth place Pirate team