posted on Sunday, July 09, 2006 2:22 AM
by
Jim
Midseason Review: Mark Buehrle
| W-L | ERA | IP | H
| R
| ER | BB | K
| SV | SvOp |
9-6
| 4.02 | 123 | 134 | 64
| 55
| 28
| 54 | 0 | 0 |
Something nice: He's eating innings like he always has, and record-wise, he's at his career norms.
Must improve: Meatball Mark has to go. I hate the Buehrle that shows up after a defensive lapse or bloop single ruins good pitches. The next six batters see grooved fastballs/hanging curveballs and they don't even need to see him twice to rake him around the yard. Focus is holding him back. And enough with the unearned runs, already!
Three best games May 19Throws his only complete game of the year, a two-hitter that gets the crosstown series off to the right start. Greg Maddux started for the Cubs, and the game lasted only 2:07 because of it. The run, of course, is unearned.
May 24Helps complete a rare sweep of the Oakland Athletics with seven innings of one-run ball. He buckled down with runners on, getting Oakland to strand nine runners, and he even picked a guy off. The run, of course, is unearned.
June 10
Buehrle didn't get the win in the game, but he pitched eight innings against a Cleveland team that had his number as of late. He also outlasted C.C. Sabathia, something he hasn't been able to do over his career.
Three worst gamesMay 2Travis Hafner hit a three-run homer off Buehrle in the first inning, and away the Indians went. Buehrle was roughed up for 13 hits.
May 14Meatball Mark reared his ugly head against the Twins in the first inning, allowing seven runs and allowing 10 Twins to come to the plate in the first inning on only 29 pitches. Only one of those runs was earned thanks to two errors, but Buehrle committed one of them. Somehow he won this game, and became the first pitcher in 100 years to do so in his predicament.
July 2
Buehrle blamed the Minnesota game on tipping pitches; he blamed this one on piss-poor pitching. I believe it tends to be the latter, as the Cubs scored seven runs on only 26 first-inning pitches. Unfortunately, the Cubs kept tacking on runs thereafter.
Grades
Arm: B
It seems like Buehrle's lost a couple miles per hour on his fastball, resulting in a lower strikeout rate. However, he hasn't complained of any pain, and he's still durable, so there's no need to complain.
Head: C+Buehrle is still prone to unearned runs, and leads the staff in that category by far. One of these days he's going to learn to reset after a bad play or bad luck, and he'll truly find himself in Cy Young contention.
Fielding: B+He's among the league leaders in pickoffs (he has four, by my count), and nobody's running on him. He's among the best at fielding his position, but gets points off for the lazy, sloppy throw against Minnesota.
Awards
Pitcher of the Weak,
July 2-9Pitcher of the Week,
June 24-July 1Pitcher of the Week,
June 11-17
Pitcher of the Week,
May 21-27
Pitcher of the Weak,
April 30-May 6Pitcher of the Week,
April 9-15