Over his last two starts, Mark Buehrle has gone seven innings each time, allowing only three runs between them. He's averaging less than a baserunner an inning, and he erased one of those baserunners via pickoff today.
Unfortunately, he has zero wins to show for it, thanks in part to the three pictured above. He
lost the bid for his 10th victory today when Bobby Jenks blew his first save since July 17. Jenks was merely the victim of bad luck, but it's his loss and Buehrle's all the same.
That 9-9 record obscures what is a heckuva bounce-back year for the ace fo the Sox staff. With seven hits over seven innings, he still has fewer hits allowed than innings pitched (by a whopping .666 repeating). The last time he finished with more innings than hits allowed was 2002, the year he won 19 games. The one walk he allowed today was only his 40th, and he ranks seventh in the league
in walks per nine innings.
And of course, there's the money stat -- ERA. Buerhle's stands at 3.39 after today,
10th best in the AL. The nine in front of him -- and a handful behind him -- are either in contention for the Cy Young or the Rookie of the Year awards. He has even kept the unearned runs at a minimum, a facet of his game that has dogged him for years. After cracking double-digits in that category for four straight season, he's on pace to set a new career low with only four allowed to this point.
However, thanks to the league-worst bullpen and the league-worst offense, which has provided Buehrle with
the third-worst run support in the league, he may not even crack 10 wins. Don Cooper
has scheduled Buehrle to miss a turn in his rotation his next time around in order to keep his innings down, which eliminates a much-needed shot at a victory.
It wouldn't be the worst-case scenario for a quality pitcher. I think Nolan Ryan owns bragging rights for his 1987 season with the Astros, where he led the league in strikeouts and ERA yet finished 8-16. He
finished fifth in the Cy Young voting, but he would've won it with an average level of support.
Still, it illustrates how difficult it will be for the next pitcher to win 300 games. Ryan could afford a wasted season because he was a freak of nature who could strike out better than a batter per inning well into his mid-40s. A finesse guy like Buehrle, on the other hand, already had a miniscule shot at 250 victories. It certainly doesn't help his cause when he takes control of as many elements as possible and still ends up eight to 10 wins shy of what he deserves.
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I've only written to mailbags a couple times. For some reason, it really bothers me when any of the writers -- or Hawk Harrelson and Darrin Jackson, for that matter -- have to answer questions that the reader/viewer could easily look up themselves, like, "Who was the last Sox pitcher to win a Cy Young Award?" or others of that ilk. So I only use the online mailbags as a last resort, when I've exhausted all other resources.
The topic, one that many of us have discussed time and time again this season:
Why does Greg Walker still get much support?:
Hi Mark, One thing I wonder about Greg Walker -- are there any White
Sox hitters he can point to as success stories? Frank Thomas took Juan
Uribe under his wing (whatever happened to the Hriniakian toe tap?);
Walker said Joe Crede solved his own problems during a DL stint late in
2005. Jim Thome still points to Charlie Manuel (the reason behind Aaron
Rowand's All-Star season?), Ozzie is credited for keeping Paul Konerko
loose enough to avoid 2003 repeats. I remember Brian Anderson crediting
Walker for changing the way he held his bat, which made his offensive
production near passable in the second half of '06, but nobody else
comes to mind. Are there any stories I'm missing? -- Jim Margalus, Albany, N.Y.
Konerko is a big supporter of Walker and realizes the criticism that
Walker is receiving is painful. Walker has a strong professional
relationship with his players, including A.J. Pierzynski. Walker is
making sure the hitters aren't taking shortcuts.
OK, I'll take that as a "No."