Oliver Perez

Wow.

I was gonna say, after last night's game, that it's always darkest before the dawn. That could be the motto of my sometimes-irrational spring exuberance. If you break this team down, by far the majority of players are underrated by the national media. It's going to be a great year to follow the club.

Checked in on today's game, saw the rain delay, checked in again, and it was over. Not a good one to miss.

My first thought is let Oliver Perez pitch every Sunday. The long rest seems to do him good. And we can't forget that he just pitched half a MLB season's worth of innings at winter ball. No way he should crack 150-160 innings this year. Maybe I'm being overprotective, but some things are worth protecting.

One other thing: the best thing about today's win is that Oliver Perez kept the Bucs from slipping three games below .500.