Background: One of the all-time best
“draft-and-follow” picks. Selected in the 38th
round by the White Sox after his freshman year at
Jefferson (Mo.) Junior College. Went back to junior
college for his sophomore year, recorded 100
strikeouts, 10 walks and seven complete games,
and signed with the White Sox before the 1999
draft. Broke into the big leagues a year later as a
reliever and made his first big-league start in 2001.
What’s up: Buehrle is the best pitcher on
baseball’s best team. In his past three starts, he
has allowed no earned runs in 24M innings.
Stat line: Baseball’s fastest-working pitcher, the
average time of his 13 starts that didn’t go extra
innings is 2 hours, 22 minutes. One of his games
took just 99 minutes. He had a 5-4 win against the
Kansas City Royals that took 2 hours, 13 minutes.
“No one ever said if you work fast, it’s going to
work to your advantage,” Buehrle said. “People say
I talk fast; they say there’s a lot of things I do fast.
I don’t know, when I get the ball I don’t see any
reason to walk around the mound, or rub the ball
up, or tie your shoe. Just get your sign and go.”
What’s next: Even with rotation mate Jon Garland
posting a 12-2 record, Buehrle should be the choice
of AL manager Terry Francona to start the
All-Star Game. If Francona chooses Garland or
Toronto ace Roy Halladay, then Buehrle can begin
gearing up for his first postseason start, which
should be Game 1 of the AL division series.
Klis’ take: People who think Greg Maddux might
be the last of the 300-game winners are forgetting
about this guy. Until this year, Buehrle was
arguably the most underrated pitcher in the game,
averaging 16.25 wins in his first four seasons as a
starter. The left-hander is 26 until next March and
already has 78 wins. Compare those vitals to Johan
Santana (26 next March, 50 wins), Halladay (28,
78 wins), Mark Mulder (28 in six weeks, 89 wins)
or Jason Jennings (27 next month, 47 wins).
– Mike Klis
