Showing posts with label Mark Buehrle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mark Buehrle. Show all posts
Mark Buehrle Wins Gold Glove
Today the American League Gold Glove winners were announced. Mark Buehrle of the White Sox won his first one of his career. Mark Buehrle is a good defensive pitcher, but never won one before. That is because since 1996 Mike Mussina or Kenny Rogers have won it every year except 2007 where Johan Santana won it. Mike Mussina won the gold glove 7 times in that span and Kenny Rogers won it 4. Now maybe it is Mark Buehrle time to start winning them....................
Mark Buehrle is a good solid pitcher. He doesn't have overpowering stuff so he doesn't get the recognition he deserves a lot of time. He is achieving many milestones though. He has won a World Series, Pick up a save in that 2005 World Series, throw a no-hitter and a perfect game, nine consecutive years with at least 30 starts, double-digit victories and 200 innings pitched every year, a career record 38 games above .500, hit a homerun, and now a gold glove, and he is only 30 years old!
Mark Buehrle is a good solid pitcher. He doesn't have overpowering stuff so he doesn't get the recognition he deserves a lot of time. He is achieving many milestones though. He has won a World Series, Pick up a save in that 2005 World Series, throw a no-hitter and a perfect game, nine consecutive years with at least 30 starts, double-digit victories and 200 innings pitched every year, a career record 38 games above .500, hit a homerun, and now a gold glove, and he is only 30 years old!
MARK BUEHRLE NO-HITTER...PERFECT NO-HITTER
Sexy Rexy should really been writing this post as he is the biggest Sox fan on the blog, but stupid him has a job and a salary. Buehrle did the impossible, again! 27 Rays up, 27 Rays down, 6 on strikes. I only wish I had seen the game and not been playing sports outside like some schmuck. Just an unbelievable individual performance and lets thank god that no defender ruined perfection. Only the 16th perfect game in the 135 year history of baseball. Clemens, Martinez, and Maddux have never thrown a no hitter or a perfect game, let alone both.
As a Cubs fan, I am a Buehrle fan due to his good nature and loyalty to the team and city as a whole. He is the Chicago White Sox, which is why I asked Sexy Rexy on our last podcast what his reaction would be if Buehrle had left, and obviously it would be difficult for all Sox fans to let Buehrle go.
Buehrle claimed that he threw 90% curves and changes in the game, as he was being caught for the first time ever by Juan Castro. A great defensive replacement putting Dwayne Wise into center field may have saved game by Robbing Gabe Kaplar with a Ken Griffey Jr. style catch at the wall.
Side notes, 670 The Score's Ed Framer announced their player of the game, and that player is Dwayne Wise! Of course he is. If there is one thing I will remember from this game it's the Wise home run robbing catch at the wall. Nothing else really stands out from this game. Everyone else was just average. Here's the footage of the entire 9th inning. Enjoy hearing Hawk Harrelson orgasm over his man love for Mark Buehrle
As a Cubs fan, I am a Buehrle fan due to his good nature and loyalty to the team and city as a whole. He is the Chicago White Sox, which is why I asked Sexy Rexy on our last podcast what his reaction would be if Buehrle had left, and obviously it would be difficult for all Sox fans to let Buehrle go.
Buehrle claimed that he threw 90% curves and changes in the game, as he was being caught for the first time ever by Juan Castro. A great defensive replacement putting Dwayne Wise into center field may have saved game by Robbing Gabe Kaplar with a Ken Griffey Jr. style catch at the wall.
Side notes, 670 The Score's Ed Framer announced their player of the game, and that player is Dwayne Wise! Of course he is. If there is one thing I will remember from this game it's the Wise home run robbing catch at the wall. Nothing else really stands out from this game. Everyone else was just average. Here's the footage of the entire 9th inning. Enjoy hearing Hawk Harrelson orgasm over his man love for Mark Buehrle
Can Mark Buerhle Keep This Up?
I'm about to do something unprecedented- I'm going to write a generally unfavorable review about a White Sox player. Now it should be clear to anyone who knows me or has read my baseball analysis and comments to know that I am a huge White Sox fan. In fact, I even wrote an entire post to why I'm a big Buehrle fan, although dude's last name is still hard to spell. And I still do like Buehrle overall as a player, but right now he's doing amazing, and I don't think it will last.
Right now, the lefty is 4th in the AL in ERA, 2nd in Wins and record going 5-0 in six games started, and has a decently high IP (something I like about Buehrle because that means when he pitches he doesn't tax the bullpen). This is great news for me as a Sox fan because right now he's pitching extremely well for the team. Now Buehrle pitching extremely well should not really be that big of a surprise to anyone. While Fangraphs has pointed out that Buerhle is "consistently inconsistent", that doesn't mean there should be any reason why he can't be good. Last year and 2005 are both examples of Buehrle pitching great. But after looking at his peripherals and his career numbers, I don't think this right now can last.
Right now, Buehrle's FIP is 4.05. The two years it was ever that low was last year and 2005 where they both were under 4 (3.94 and a damn good 3.42 respectively). So that's not to say that his FIP can't ever be low and that he can't maintain this 4.05, but this seems a bit sketchy to me. But even if Buehrle can maintain this low of a FIP, he still does have a defense behind. And while theoretically Buehrle can have a low ERA and such, in reality, he's inducing balls into the 3rd worst defense in the majors in terms of UZR/150.
There are still other signs for concern. Right now the Sox ace has an 82.9 LOB% and an extremely low .245 BABIP. All these are abnormal for Buehrle. He's never had a LOB% above 76 and a BABIP under .282 since 2002 (in fact that low of a BABIP WAS in '02). Right now he's inducing less balls in play and getting more lucky that his runners aren't coming around to score. In fact, he's having more runners reach base because he's walking guys more now than ever while inducing less ground balls and more fly balls.
Buehrle's BB/9 is the highest its ever been in his career since his rookie season while is SO are remaining consistent with his career. His GB/FB has decreased significantly because the ground ball pitcher is inducing about 6% less ground balls and giving up about 6% more fly balls. He's also getting extremely lucky that the fly balls he's giving up, especially while calling his home a HR friendly park, aren't going for HRs. The guy has never really given up a whole lot of HRs in his career but his .71 HR/9 is the lowest its ever been in his career.
Buehrle is walking more guys, putting less balls in play yet giving up less ground balls and more fly balls, yet miraculously giving up less home runs, and getting really lucky that his runners aren't scoring. All of this while having one of the worst defenses in baseball behind him. All of this smells recipe for disaster.
I believe that Buehrle's cooshy low ERA and high W is going to come down. He's playing out of his mind and if he's on your fantasy team I would be happy to just ride out this luck as long as I can because it seems to me that soon he's going to have a couple of bad games. But despite all this, I think he'll have an average to above average year. I see no reason why this year can't be at least somewhat similar to his 2008 campaign. I see no reason why Buehrle's levels can't at least jump up to how they were in his greater years. I certainly don't believe he'll be as bad as he was in '06 or '07 but he won't as good as he was in '05 or '08 either.
Right now, the lefty is 4th in the AL in ERA, 2nd in Wins and record going 5-0 in six games started, and has a decently high IP (something I like about Buehrle because that means when he pitches he doesn't tax the bullpen). This is great news for me as a Sox fan because right now he's pitching extremely well for the team. Now Buehrle pitching extremely well should not really be that big of a surprise to anyone. While Fangraphs has pointed out that Buerhle is "consistently inconsistent", that doesn't mean there should be any reason why he can't be good. Last year and 2005 are both examples of Buehrle pitching great. But after looking at his peripherals and his career numbers, I don't think this right now can last.
Right now, Buehrle's FIP is 4.05. The two years it was ever that low was last year and 2005 where they both were under 4 (3.94 and a damn good 3.42 respectively). So that's not to say that his FIP can't ever be low and that he can't maintain this 4.05, but this seems a bit sketchy to me. But even if Buehrle can maintain this low of a FIP, he still does have a defense behind. And while theoretically Buehrle can have a low ERA and such, in reality, he's inducing balls into the 3rd worst defense in the majors in terms of UZR/150.
There are still other signs for concern. Right now the Sox ace has an 82.9 LOB% and an extremely low .245 BABIP. All these are abnormal for Buehrle. He's never had a LOB% above 76 and a BABIP under .282 since 2002 (in fact that low of a BABIP WAS in '02). Right now he's inducing less balls in play and getting more lucky that his runners aren't coming around to score. In fact, he's having more runners reach base because he's walking guys more now than ever while inducing less ground balls and more fly balls.
Buehrle's BB/9 is the highest its ever been in his career since his rookie season while is SO are remaining consistent with his career. His GB/FB has decreased significantly because the ground ball pitcher is inducing about 6% less ground balls and giving up about 6% more fly balls. He's also getting extremely lucky that the fly balls he's giving up, especially while calling his home a HR friendly park, aren't going for HRs. The guy has never really given up a whole lot of HRs in his career but his .71 HR/9 is the lowest its ever been in his career.
Buehrle is walking more guys, putting less balls in play yet giving up less ground balls and more fly balls, yet miraculously giving up less home runs, and getting really lucky that his runners aren't scoring. All of this while having one of the worst defenses in baseball behind him. All of this smells recipe for disaster.
I believe that Buehrle's cooshy low ERA and high W is going to come down. He's playing out of his mind and if he's on your fantasy team I would be happy to just ride out this luck as long as I can because it seems to me that soon he's going to have a couple of bad games. But despite all this, I think he'll have an average to above average year. I see no reason why this year can't be at least somewhat similar to his 2008 campaign. I see no reason why Buehrle's levels can't at least jump up to how they were in his greater years. I certainly don't believe he'll be as bad as he was in '06 or '07 but he won't as good as he was in '05 or '08 either.
Why I Like Mark Buehrle
Well, mainly, I'm a White Sox fan and he's done a lot for the team. But I would also like him as a pitcher no matter what team he played for. Now I'm not saying Buehrle's one of the best pitchers out there and I'm not even saying he's a legit ace on any staff. There are a shit ton of pitchers that are better than Buehrle. But after I just saw him pitch today and realize how The Bright One and David MVP Eckstein have shit on him in the past, I thought I'd explain myself.
Mark Buehrle is the quintessential groundball pitcher. Here's a guy who's sole purpose on the mound is to get batters to hit balls to his infield. And Buehrle is fairly successful at this. Now he's obviously not the greatest, but with a career 4.15 FIP in nine seasons, you most certainly can do worse. A LOT WORSE. (At least he's better than Jason Marquis!). The reason inducing groundballs are nice is for two reasons. The first is that it limits home runs. Buehrle plays in an extremely homer friendly park so the more balls hit on the ground and the less hit in the air, means a lower ERA for Buehrle and helps out his team. Secondly, inducing ground balls means less pitches Buehrle throws. Batters Buehrle faces sees pitches that they think they can hit early in ABs which really gets turned into an out by the infield defense.
One criticism Buehrle gets is that he can't really strike anyone out. In fact, in his no hitter, he only struck out like four or five guys- even though he retired 27. This can be advantageous though- as related to this last point. Strikeouts take a lot of pitches. More pitches means more strain on a pitchers arm. But because Buehrle takes guys out with usually fewer pitches, he can stay in the game longer and thus help out the bullpen. And no matter how good the Sox bullpen is (and right now it's pretty damn good), as Moneyball stated "There's a reason guys are in the bullpen and not starters". Plus, as "Bull Durham" so nicely put it: "Strikeouts are facist"
Now, as I stated in my opener, Buehrle is nowhere near perfect. Relying heavily on your defense can be a huge problem, especially during his 2009 campaign. Right now, the White Sox infield is pretty bad, especially with Alexei Rameriz at SS. By inducing ground balls into a defense that can't field ground balls an not striking out guys will translate into less innings for Buehrle with more runs that the White Sox offense has to make up for. However, this is not entirely Buehrle's fault. Kenny Williams has had Buerhle for his entire tenure as GM and should have prepared for this (and a GM should plan on having a good defense every season no matter what anyway). Not only that, but Buehrle isn't the greatest guy at NOT walking people. If you're going to not strike people out, you have to at least NOT walk people- something Buehrle has not done so well throughout his career.
But despite Buehrle's disadvantages, he still has a lot of value to any team. He adds depth to any rotation and out on a team with an above average to great defense, Buerhle will be spectacular. I think his "traditional stats" this year will be pretty bad and not worth owning in fantasy baseball, but I'm still glad he is in my team's rotation.
Mark Buehrle is the quintessential groundball pitcher. Here's a guy who's sole purpose on the mound is to get batters to hit balls to his infield. And Buehrle is fairly successful at this. Now he's obviously not the greatest, but with a career 4.15 FIP in nine seasons, you most certainly can do worse. A LOT WORSE. (At least he's better than Jason Marquis!). The reason inducing groundballs are nice is for two reasons. The first is that it limits home runs. Buehrle plays in an extremely homer friendly park so the more balls hit on the ground and the less hit in the air, means a lower ERA for Buehrle and helps out his team. Secondly, inducing ground balls means less pitches Buehrle throws. Batters Buehrle faces sees pitches that they think they can hit early in ABs which really gets turned into an out by the infield defense.
One criticism Buehrle gets is that he can't really strike anyone out. In fact, in his no hitter, he only struck out like four or five guys- even though he retired 27. This can be advantageous though- as related to this last point. Strikeouts take a lot of pitches. More pitches means more strain on a pitchers arm. But because Buehrle takes guys out with usually fewer pitches, he can stay in the game longer and thus help out the bullpen. And no matter how good the Sox bullpen is (and right now it's pretty damn good), as Moneyball stated "There's a reason guys are in the bullpen and not starters". Plus, as "Bull Durham" so nicely put it: "Strikeouts are facist"
Now, as I stated in my opener, Buehrle is nowhere near perfect. Relying heavily on your defense can be a huge problem, especially during his 2009 campaign. Right now, the White Sox infield is pretty bad, especially with Alexei Rameriz at SS. By inducing ground balls into a defense that can't field ground balls an not striking out guys will translate into less innings for Buehrle with more runs that the White Sox offense has to make up for. However, this is not entirely Buehrle's fault. Kenny Williams has had Buerhle for his entire tenure as GM and should have prepared for this (and a GM should plan on having a good defense every season no matter what anyway). Not only that, but Buehrle isn't the greatest guy at NOT walking people. If you're going to not strike people out, you have to at least NOT walk people- something Buehrle has not done so well throughout his career.
But despite Buehrle's disadvantages, he still has a lot of value to any team. He adds depth to any rotation and out on a team with an above average to great defense, Buerhle will be spectacular. I think his "traditional stats" this year will be pretty bad and not worth owning in fantasy baseball, but I'm still glad he is in my team's rotation.
