Pitcher Oliver Perez, seen here jogging during the Pirates training camp Wednesday in Bradenton, Fla., is off to a much better start this season than he had last year.

VIERA, Fla. — The early view of Oliver Perez has been encouraging, but the Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher still has much to prove in this spring training and beyond.

“It’s a big year for me,” he said. “I know that. And I want to do my best.”

Perez, a 24-year-old left-hander, is coming off a forgettable 2005 in which he went 7-5 with a 5.85 earned run average in 20 starts. He missed two months with a broken toe after kicking a laundry cart in anger in July.

His trouble actually started in spring training, when he sat out two weeks because of a lack of an offseason arm program, then struggled at the start of the season and never recovered. His fastball, once routinely clocked at 98 mph, often was down to 88 mph.

This spring, Perez says, things are different.

He went back to pitching winter ball in Mexico and, although he went 0-4 with a 6.16 ERA, his fastball and slider were solid. Pittsburgh general manager Dave Littlefield made a special trip to watch him pitch in late December.

Perez also reported to camp eight pounds heavier, the result, he said, of an offseason training program designed to give him better strength and balance.

“That’s why I’m happy right now,” Perez said Thursday before the Pirates game against the Washington Nationals. “I’ve been working a lot to get like this, to be ready for the season.”

Perez left the Pirates on Thursday to report to Mexico’s training camp for the World Baseball Classic, but he made a good first impression Wednesday. He pitched two perfect innings with three strikeouts and needed only 19 pitches in an 8-1 victory over Manatee Community College. The competition was inferior, but Perez said he focused on the strike zone, which he found with all but four pitches.

“I threw 100 percent,” Perez said. “I used my splitter. My slider was good. My location was good. Right now, I feel really good.”