Well there’s this: According to David Lennon of Newsday in a subscriber-only piece, Oliver Perez showed up to Mets camp a couple days early yesterday, only to find the complex locked. Perfect. Lennon reported that Perez then picked up some workout clothes and left to exercise on his own.

In the grand scheme of things, the report means very little, of course. But for some reason fans seem to use the date a player reports for Spring Training as a barometer for his commitment. If he is there a week early, he is focused and prepared, a dedicated team player. If he only arrives the day he is contractually obligated to show up, hellfire and sanctimony, fire and brimstone.

Of course, there’s some confirmation bias at play. Fans note when Perez is not listed among the players that arrived early to camp because they have already decided that he is lazy and unfocused. No one even notices that Mike Pelfrey’s not there — hey, he’s got a young kid and another on the way; maybe he wants to spend time with this family!

Neither Pelf nor Perez nor anyone else should be faulted, ever, for failing to show up before the mandatory reporting date. For one thing, no one has any idea what type of work a player does on his own time, in his home gym or with his personal trainer or whatever. Second, showing up early is voluntary. I rarely come into the office on weekends. I could, and I’m sure my bosses would appreciate the extra effort, but I’ve got lots of other stuff to take care of.

Maybe some players determine that showing up a couple days early will help them get a leg up on the competition or earn good standing with the team, but maybe others want time to get in the best shape possible before they show up to camp so they can make a good impression when they do. And maybe some really just don’t want to put in the extra work. Who knows? I don’t.

Point is, we can knock “not showing up early” to camp off our list of complaints about Oliver Perez. We’re going to have to instead focus on the big ones: “Owed $12 million” and “Not very good.” The former is certainly not his fault. The latter might be.

There have always been mixed reports on Perez’s work ethic, and it’s difficult to tell to what extent they’re true and to what extent he’s simply an easy punching bag for media because he’s a) already disliked by fans and b) not a great quote. The only concrete evidence we have of his selfishness is his refusal to go to the Minor Leagues last year, something well within his rights as a Major League veteran. Of course, as fans, it’s well within our rights to boo him for occupying a roster spot.