Buehrle could open season as 4th starter

[southsider2k5]

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/wh...T-sox23.article

 

Buehrle insists hes healthy; could fall to 4th in Sox' rotation

Buehrle insists he's OK, but Ozzie considers moving him to No. 4 spot

 

 

March 23, 2009

BY JOE COWLEY [email protected]

 

PHOENIX -- Mark Buehrle says he isn't hurt.

 

But if it pitches like a duck, gets lit up like a duck and is treated like a duck between starts, Buehrle's claim begins to fall on deaf ears.

 

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen admitted on Sunday that Gavin Floyd or John Danks are now being discussed as Opening Day starters, so the club can move Buehrle back to the No. 4 spot and give him more recovery time in April.

 

Manager Ozzie Guillen admitted Sunday that the White Sox are discussing starting Gavin Floyd or John Danks on Opening Day so they can move Buehrle back to the No. 4 spot and give him more recovery time in April.

 

''We're not planning to skip his next start [Thursday],'' Guillen said, ''but we're going to see how he's doing after that, see how he feels, and we might go Plan B -- sit him down for the following start and put him in line to be No. 4 in the rotation to have more time to bounce back. Gavin would be our No. 1, but since we're facing Kansas City, even Danks.

 

''I don't really care about No. 1, No. 2, No. 4, but moving Buehrle back now is something that has come to my mind. I talked to [general manager Ken Williams] about it, talked to [pitching coach Don] Cooper about it. It protects us, but more important, it protects him.''

 

Protects him from what? That's the million-dollar question. Or in Buehrle's case, the $14 million question -- his 2009 salary.

 

The left-hander recently insisted that the reason for his country-club schedule the last few springs has to do with workload more than shoulder or elbow pain.

 

A major-league source, however, said the Sox had concerns about Buehrle as far back as the winter meetings, especially after he had ''to take the needle more than a few times last year.''

 

Buehrle laughed off that comment, saying: ''Yeah, it was HGH.'' Asked if he had to get cortisone shots more frequently than usual in the second half of 2008, he said: ''I did not get a cortisone shot last season. I think I've only had one in the last three or four years, so whatever you're hearing, it was not a cortisone shot.''

 

So was it any other sort of shot?

 

''I told you,'' he said, laughing, ''it was HGH. Look at me.''

 

Because of insurance privacy laws, teams no longer can comment on injuries unless authorized by the player. So Buehrle could be pitching through pain and it will stay a dirty little secret, or he could be doing what he does best -- trying to stir some life into camp by tweaking the media into thinking there's more to the situation than really exists.

 

''My numbers in the second half of 2006 and '07 were bad, so we came up with a new routine,'' Buehrle said of the lightened workload. ''The idea was to keep me strong.''

 

Buehrle went 3-7 with a 6.44 ERA after the All-Star break in 2006 and 4-5 with a 4.43 ERA in '07. Last spring was the first time the Sox had him skip starts, and he went 4-1 with a 2.29 ERA in the final month.

 

''As far as the medical stuff or if there is anything wrong, that's for Mark and [trainer Herm Schneider],'' Guillen said. ''I just want to know if the guy is healthy when he's on the mound.''

 

Cubs hitters got healthy off Buehrle on Saturday, lighting him up for eight runs and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings to raise his ERA to 9.00.

 

''I talked to him [sunday], see how he feels,'' Guillen said. ''Obviously, he's going to feel stiff. When you have outings like he has the last two outings, people start asking questions and trying to figure out what happened.

 

''Meanwhile, the thing we have to make sure is we have to do what we have to do with Buehrle. We want him around all year long.''

BUEHRLE BREAKDOWN

 

2005 10-3, 2.58 6-5, 3.84

 

2006 9-6, 4.02 3-7, 6.44

 

2007 6-4, 3.03 4-5, 4.43

 

2008 6-8, 3.68 9-4, 3.93

[daa84]

im always a bit worried about MBs arm just because of the massive accumulation of innings he's had over the years....but frankly i'm not at all concerned about what happened vs. the cubs the other day....mark does that 2-3 times a year, where he goes out and guys put the ball in play, are aggressive and gather up about 10 hits in 2-3 innings. Also, considering its spring, and he had the time off with the birth of his child, i think its a bit much to be overly concerned. I'm ok with lining him up 4th though...especially beacuse that means he opens the series at home vs. the twins....especially since contreras vs. the piranhas = not good

Edited March 24, 2009 by daa84

[NorthSideSox72]

Seems like this comes up every spring. I doubt he's hurt, I think they are just cutting his innings here and there when they can, to keep him strong.

 

[LittleHurt05]

was it last year that he broke his hand in spring training and was supposed to be out a month or two???

 

then it was fine and he ended up missing no time at all...

[Kyyle23]

was it last year that he broke his hand in spring training and was supposed to be out a month or two???

 

then it was fine and he ended up missing no time at all...

 

I think it was his foot, he heard a pop or something and everyone freaked out. I dont even think he missed his next ST start

[Dick Allen]

I think it was his foot, he heard a pop or something and everyone freaked out. I dont even think he missed his next ST start

I think that was in 2005.

[Kyyle23]

I think that was in 2005.

 

Was that 05? Jeez, man that was a while ago.

 

I dont recall any broken hand fiasco

[qwerty]

So in other words on april 6th buehrle will have the ball in his hands.

[witesoxfan]

So in other words on april 6th buehrle will have the ball in his hands.

 

yeah

[elrockinMT]

ST is there to work on location, pitches and control and not win every game although the players and we would like to see a lot of wins. I think Mark B is working on location and he just isn't as sharp as he would like. No worries at the point.