By: Mike Carter
Mark Buehrle. His name uttered always brings a smile to my face. Buehrle is an affable guy, a sort of everyman who pitched for 16 seasons in the major leagues for the Chicago White Sox, Miami Marlins and the Toronto Blue Jays.
In keeping with a sort of series I have done for 9 Inning Know It All over the years, I pick a guy with a murky case for the Hall of Fame. This fall, I have tabbed Mark Buehrle as that guy.
Now before you poo-poo me and call me a homer for picking a White Sox guy, at least read the next few hundred words and hear my testimony. Then you can rip me apart if you disagree and call me a fool. Lord know it would not be the first time I have been called a fool or been ripped apart for my beliefs and statements.
Let’s review some facts: Buehrle was a five-time All-Star, a four-time Gold Glover and a World Series Champion in 2005 (still one of the top three moments of my life). He had a career record of 214-160 with a 3.81 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and a meager 1870 strikeouts in 3283.1 innings. Nothing eye-popping there. On the plus side, he had a .572 winning percentage and his ERA+, a nice measure of a pitcher’s true value, was +117. It adjusts a pitcher’s earned run average according to the pitcher’s ballpark and the ERA of the pitcher’s league. This means he performed 17% better than league average.
Another number that boggles my mind: Buehrle made 493 career starts. Over the course of his career, which spanned from 2001-2015, he made at least thirty starts every season. Never missed time with shoulder or elbow injuries, and healthy his entire career. From 2001-2015, he won at least ten games every season. In that same period, he threw over 200 innings each season, except for his last year, when he threw 198.2. Those seasons left him with a 59.1 WAR (Wins Above Replacement), which is better than 20 pitchers already in the Hall of Fame, including such notables as Mordecai Brown, Sandy Koufax and Lefty Gomez, to name a few.
You may also remember that Buehrle pitched both a no-hitter in 2007 and a perfect game in 2009. Buehrle could arguably be the least likely guy on those lists to have thrown either type of game. This was a guy who threw cutter after cutter and rarely threw more than 85-86 MPH. Many of his off-speed offerings were in the high 70s. What separated Buehrle from many of his peers, besides his durability, was a legitimate five-pitch mix with nothing moving much faster than the mid-80s. A four-seamer, a cutter, a sinker, a changeup and a curveball, with nothing thrown more than 25% of the time. A sheer performance in painting locations and never being center cut across the plate.
In 2005, he made history with the White Sox by earning a win and a save in the World Series. The save was legendary, as Buehrle admitted that he had a “couple of beers” during Game 3 because he didn’t think he would be used that night. You may recall that he was called on in the 14th inning to shut down a powerful Astros lineup that night.
Last year was his first year on the Hall of Fame ballot, and he nabbed 11% of BBWAA votes. By comparison, peers like Barry Zito and AJ Burnett are off the ballot. That means something. It means there is at least a grass roots group of writers who view him as a possibility.
Here’s why: as the game changes around us, and we see fewer innings pitched by starting pitchers, Buehrle’s accomplishments will stand out even more. He retired at 36 and certainly had 2-3 more seasons remaining in his left arm when he walked away to spend more time with family and things he enjoys, like hunting and fishing. Kudos to him. He made his money and retired in good health. But history is going to look back on him as a durable winner who never missed time with injury and took the ball every fifth day, while also having some historic moments in there, too. We now live in a time where baseball features high velocity arms that break down, and teams that manage pitcher workloads due to the major investments they have made in those arms. We see teams using openers. We see teams using bulk relievers. We see teams pulling starters after 100 pitches and many times, less than five innings. The so-called quality start is becoming a thing of the past. A quality start is six innings pitched with three earned runs or fewer. I told you earlier that Buehrle made 493 career starts. Of those, 304 were quality starts. That is good for third most in MLB history. Not of his era, but of history.
By means of comparison, at this moment, there are four pitchers in MLB that will throw 200 innings this year: Zack Wheeler, Sandy Alcantara, Adam Wainwright and Walker Buehler, who needs 4.1 innings this week to surpass that mark. Four guys. In 2019, the last full season before this one, there were 15 guys who threw 200 innings. My point? Buehrle is going to look far better in ten years than he does right now with the way pitching is changing in the game we love.
I can also add that Buehrle had the most pickoffs in MLB history with 95 and the most defensive runs saved for any pitcher with 88.
So, did I sway you in any way? At best Buehrle was an All-Star and a guy who never spend a day on the disable list. The consistency and lesser-known stats of his career make an interesting case for him. Let’s face facts too: the days of the set criteria for the Hall of Fame for pitchers will change as the game continues to change. We will likely not see another 300-game winner, we may not see another 3000 strikeout performer again with the bevy of arm injuries in today’s game. It’s time to rethink that loose criteria, and consider guys, like Buehrle, who have borderline cases on the surface but compelling arguments underneath those surface stats.
Ok, fire away now. I love doing these and would love to hear your thoughts.