Left-hander Odalis Perez was humbled this past offseason. A free agent, he had a tough time finding a job. Clubs found his asking price too high, and the last time he had a good season was in 2004, when he was with the Dodgers.

As it turned out, Perez didn't sign until Feb. 19, when the Nationals gave him a Minor League contract. He badly wants to show he can rebound from the last three seasons. Perez, who went 8-11 with a 5.57 ERA in 137 innings with the Royals last season, believes he can again be the pitcher who won 15 games in 2002 or the one who had a 3.25 ERA in '04 for the Dodgers.

Why? He has his confidence back. He said some people in baseball made him lose it in the last three years, but he wouldn't say who they were.

"If I'm healthy, I can go 200 innings," Perez said. "I can win a lot of games for this team. When I was a free agent [after the '04 season], I worked really hard. Sometimes, people make you lose your confidence. Sometimes, you think you are doing the right thing to become a better pitcher or a better teammate, but sometimes people take it a different way.

"Even if I'm here at this level -- and I've been here the last nine years -- some people still believe I'm too young to be a veteran. Whatever happened in the past happened in the past. It's a new season and I'm very proud to be part of this Nationals team."

Perez, 30, pitched in his first Major League exhibition game of the season Saturday afternoon with mixed results, giving up four runs in 4 1/3 innings in a 6-1 loss to the Dodgers.

Perez shut out Los Angeles in the first three innings but ran into trouble in the fourth, when he gave up a wind-aided two-run homer to Andre Ethier. Perez was charged with two more runs when left-hander Eude Brito gave up a two-run single to Rafael Furcal in the fifth.

Perez came away believing he had a good outing.

"It was good," Perez said. "I was able to throw my pitches. They took me out of the game because [I reached my pitch count]. Mentally and physically, I'm fine. I'm very good."
The Official Site of The Washington Nationals: News: Perez has plenty to prove with Nats