posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 3:45 AM
by
Jim
Resting Buehrle: Sorry now, or sorry later?
Continuing a trend that began in spring training, the Sox
altered the rotation to lessen Mark Buehrle's workload. Jose Contreras will pitch tonight, Gavin Floyd on Saturday, and Javier Vazquez will flip spots with Buehrle and take Sunday.
And continuing a trend that began in spring training, Sox coaches insisted Buehrle was fine:
''Nothing is wrong with Buehrle,'' Cooper said. ''I don't know where this started in the spring. Buehrle is fine with a couple of extra days because he can perform on a couple of extra days.
''After this, there is no extra time. Take your rest now. It's what we talked about in the spring. He's still going to get his 33 starts.''
I think it checks out, but it means Buehrle and Co. have officially conceded that he wears down in the second half despite initially denying or downplaying the claim the last couple years. The numbers back that up -- from 2005 through 2007:
- First half: 374.2 IP, 369 H, 1.17 WHIP, 3.19 ERA, 0.88 HR/9
- Second half: 267 IP, 326 H, 1.45 WHIP, 4.82 ERA, 1.38 HR/9
The unfortunate side effect is that this places heightened importance on Contreras' outing tonight. All things being equal, he should've been the one to skip a turn considering the fair amount of success Floyd has experienced against the Tigers. I would rather send Floyd, Buehrle and Vazquez out to the mound against Detroit, who dropped to 1-8
after a loss to Boston Thursday. The Tigers will pick themselves off the floor eventually, and it'd be unfortunate for the Sox if a poor Contreras outing pumped life into them.
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If you missed Joe Cowley's video chat,
here's the link.
I watched all 33+ minutes, and it wasn't half bad, aside from the occasional odd answer (like building a team around the currently gimpy Derek Jeter) or non-answer (regarding the Sun-Times' loudest columnist), but he could've managed much worse for an inaugural, off-the-cuff, streaming Web chat. He could use better questions, like ones not involving the Cubs.
Perhaps the most insightful bit was his comparison between Jerry Owens and
Brian Simmons, who had an opportunity to take the center field job in 1999 before an injury of spring training shelved him for three months. Simmons had a superior track record to Owens, though. He was basically Aaron Rowand-quality, but a Rowand who couldn't ward off all the injuries he accumulated over the years.
He still had one of the greatest individual defensive performances I remember seeing in
a 4-3 loss to the Blue Jays on a Half-Price Monday in July of 1999. He made a diving catch early on, threw a runner out at second, then crashed into the center field wall robbing Shannon Stewart of extra bases in the 10th. He helped the game get into extra innings by driving in a run with a triple in the eighth, then coming around to score himself.
Of course, looking at that box score, it may have been nullified by one of the worst performances I'd seen -- Mike Caruso going 0-for-6 out of the leadoff spot with a strikeout. You think Ozzie Guillen has problems filling out his lineup card? Look at how Jerry Manuel arranged the OBPs that evening:
1. Mike Caruso: .270
2. Liu Rodriguez: .288 [...]
7. Brian Simmons: .417
8. Greg Norton: .346
9. Brook Fordyce: .338
As bad a ballplayer as Caruso was, that game on July 26, 1999,
marked the only time in his career that he went hitless in six at-bats. So really, for a Half-Price Monday, my brother and I were twice as blessed.
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Minor league round-up:- Charlotte vs. Toledo PPD
- Chattanooga 6, Birmingham 3
- For four of five innings, Kyle McCulloch was OK. The problem was a five-run third inning, and he ended up giving up all six earned runs on the day.
- Javier Castillo went 2-for-4; Victor Mercedes, Ricardo Nanita and Maurice Gartrell drove in one run apiece.
- Matt Zaleski (2 IP) and John Lujan (1 IP) combined for three scoreless innings.
- Winston-Salem 5, Lynchburg 3
- Aaron Poreda made his official debut (his first start was rained out), and gave up one earned run over five innings, but his peripherals weren't awesome (5 H, 3 BB, 2 K).
- Javier Colina went 2-for-4 with a three-run homer, and drove in four overall.
- Kanekoa Texeira earned his first save, allowing a hit and striking out two in the ninth.
- Kannapolis 3, Asheville 1
- Anthony Carter threw his second strong start, striking out seven over six innings again.
- Dale Mollenhauer went 2-for-3 with a double, triple and a walk out of the leadoff spot.
- Hector Santiago struck out three over two scoreless innings of relief.