Mark Buehrle starts on Wednesday night. For the first time, White Sox fans are forced to ask: Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
That's how bad things are at U.S. Cellular Field.
There is genuine concern about the mental wellness of Buehrle, the cruise-control lefty who won 35 games the last two seasons.
It figures there would be, of course. He takes a six-game losing streak into Wednesday night's start against Toronto. His 2-7 record is perhaps the most shocking aspect to the White Sox's sorrowful start, which has manager Jerry Manuel on the endangered species list.
I've known Buehrle a little bit since he showed up in Arizona as a 20-year-old less than a year removed from junior college. I've followed his development closely.
My instincts say Sox fans should relax—that unlike the self-critical Paul Konerko, the unproven Joe Crede and the 2003 version of Frank Thomas, Buehrle will be all right. If he were the biggest thing the White Sox had to worry about, they would be all right. He's going to be fine. That's what I believe.
However, rather than pestering Buehrle himself, I asked around about him before Tuesday night's 4-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. It quickly became apparent that Buehrle's six winless weeks have turned unsettling for some around him. Now I'm not quite as sure that this is only a speed bump on his way to another solid season.
"He has given me a couple of reactions that you don't see, like disappointment," pitching coach Don Cooper said. "You're seeing some of the disappointment that you've never seen before, because something like this hasn't happened. I think he'll be fine because he's a competitor. I think you'll see it Wednesday night."
Sandy Alomar, who catches Buehrle, believes he has gotten caught up in the Sox's inability to score runs. He has received only 30 runs in his 10 starts, including two runs or less in half of them.
"I think sometimes he has tried to be perfect because we haven't supported him," Alomar said. "He thinks he has to shut the other team down rather than just trusting himself. Instead of staying aggressive, he starts to nibble. That's not the kind of pitcher he is."
Alomar has that right.
For 2½ seasons in the big leagues, nothing has worried Buehrle. Not even facing Jim Thome with the bases loaded.
Buehrle, a big-leaguer for about two months, did that in an early-September game in 2000. He struck Thome out with a 3-2 changeup. Kids are not supposed to throw 3-2 changeups, not with the bases loaded. Buehrle tried one because he knew he would throw it for a strike, which he did.
Buehrle's struggle is mental, not physical. He still was pitching reasonably well when he was 2-5 but one can't say that anymore, not after he walked six at Seattle and allowed 10 hits and 10 runs Friday at Minneapolis.
Something is bothering him. You don't have to be Alan Greenspan to guess what it is.
When Buehrle turned down a guaranteed $11.5 million in spring training, opting to take his chances on a year-to-year basis rather than accept the three-year deal (which could have extended to $27 million over five years if he reached vesting options), he said the decision would not affect the way he pitched. It might not have, either, if he and his team had gotten out of the gate fast.
But Buehrle wasn't playing on house money. He knows he's not looking real good right now on the biggest financial decision he is likely ever to face. So you know he's being weighed down by the magnitude of his gamble.
For their own good, the White Sox should give Buehrle a second chance at long-term security. There's still a deal to be done here.
It should be handled discreetly and not in a way that would embarrass Buehrle or his agent, Jeff Berry. It's amazing that the previous negotiations commanded so much attention considering it's Magglio Ordonez, not Buehrle, who is sneaking up on a franchise-rocking round of free agency.
Helped along by a diving catch from Carlos Lee, Bartolo Colon won his third start in a row Tuesday. The White Sox need Buehrle to follow suit.
It's because of Colon and Buehrle that this is such a vital season for the Sox. They have got a pitching staff that could do big things in October.
At the moment, of course, it's hard to imagine anybody on the Sox doing anything in the fall except trying to forget an endless summer. But general manager Ken Williams suggested again Tuesday it's still too early to consider anything drastic, like promoting Double-A manager Wally Backman to take over for Manuel.
Williams points out that with all the disappointment they have experienced, the Sox are only five games out of first place. If they were this close in August, he says, people would be saying they have a chance. So why before Memorial Day have so many people concluded they don't have a chance?
The answer, which Williams understands, is because they have looked so bad. They're 9-21 against teams that currently have winning records. In Buehrle's starts against the good teams, they're 0-7.
Something has to give. I'm still betting on Buehrle, but some of the people who are counting on him wish he had not bet so much on himself.
