Sox pitching getting their due...

[bjm676]

http://www.suntimes.com/output/sports/cst-spt-sox29.html

 

The charm's in the arms for Sox

 

April 29, 2005

 

When they are good, they are really, really good, and when they are bad, they are still doing fairly well.

 

Despite a two-game losing slide to end their eight-game road trip, the White Sox will have the best record in baseball heading into play today, and the major reason is the pitching.

 

Starting pitching, relief pitching, it doesn't matter. The Sox are getting it done with their arms, and even in the most recent defeat Wednesday at Oakland, they got one of their better starts of the season from Freddy Garcia.

 

Sox starting pitchers are 11-3 with a 2.90 ERA in 1452/3 innings. For comparison, that's like a starter carrying a sub-3.00 ERA into mid-August.

 

It's heady stuff from the Sox' staff -- Cy Young stuff.

 

SOX STARTERS

JON GARLAND

4-0 1.80 ERA

*30 IP in 4 games; 11 K

*Allowed 21 hits, 6 runs, 5 walks

*Opponents' batting average: .200

 

 

MARK BUEHRLE

3-1 3.89 ERA

*37 IP in 5 games; 25 K

*Allowed 29 hits, 16 runs, 9 walks

*Opponents' batting average: .216

 

 

FREDDY GARCIA

2-1 2.83 ERA

*35 IP in 5 games; 19 K

*Allowed 26 hits, 11 runs, 9 walks

*Opponents' batting average: .210

 

 

ORLANDO HERNANDEZ

2-1 2.35 ERA

*23 IP in 4 games; 14 K

*Allowed 28 hits, 9 runs, 11 walks

*Opponents' batting average: .298

 

 

JOSE CONTRERAS

0-0 3.48 ERA

*20.2 IP in 4 games; 15 K

*Allowed 16 hits, 9 runs, 12 walks

*Opponents' batting average: .213

 

Sox pitchers have 14 quality starts and have held their opponents to one earned run or less in half of their games (11 of 22). And leading the way is a sub-.500 pitcher who had been demoted as far as a starter could go, to the No. 5 spot in the rotation.

 

 

JON GARLAND: The right-hander is 4-0 for the first time in his career out of the No. 5 spot and finally is tapping into that serious potential the Sox had been waiting on so patiently. Garland has 788 career innings, with all but six coming before he turned 25.

 

Not only did Garland come out of spring training finally throwing his sinker with consistency, he seems to have perfected his changeup, making him nearly impossible to get a good read on.

 

"The key for him is that he just believes in [his changeup] more now,'' catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. "He believes in his sinker, and it always makes your changeup better when you're strike one instead of ball one, ball two.

 

"He's going out there and throwing strikes and getting ahead of guys, and that makes everything better. He's throwing it over the plate and not [messing] around with it.''

 

 

MARK BUEHRLE: If the highest ERA on your starting staff belongs to a pitcher as potentially dom-inant as Buehrle, things are going well. Buehrle's 3.89 ERA is solid enough, and consider it was 2.61 before he gave up seven runs and 11 hits in six innings during Tuesday's defeat in Oakland.

 

Buehrle is as dependable as starters come with at least 221 innings in each of the last four seasons. Among left-handers since 2001, Buehrle started the season first in innings (6902/3), third in starts (101), third in complete games (11) and tied for fifth in victories (49).

 

Not only is close friend Garland proving to be an inspiration, but Buehrle is fired up to pitch again after getting knocked around by the A's this week.

 

"I hate sitting around for five days whenever you have a bad outing,'' he said. "Any time I get out there as quick as I can, the better.''

 

Buehrle should be good and fired up for his next outing Tuesday against the Kansas City Royals. With a day off Thursday and another Monday, he will have chewed on his last start for a full week.

 

 

FREDDY GARCIA: A professional pitcher if there ever was one, Garcia keeps adding elements to his game to make himself even better. This spring he worked on throwing fastballs away to become less reliant on his breaking pitches.

 

Garcia doesn't know why his forearm acted up toward the end of last season but figures it was because of his breaking-ball-heavy arsenal in recent years. That shouldn't be a problem come this season's stretch drive, as he has returned to the kind of hard throwing that earned him All-Star berths in 2001 and 2002.

 

The Sox might have dropped a second consecutive game Wednesday, but it wasn't Garcia's fault. He allowed one run in seven innings to lower his ERA to 2.83. He has allowed an average of just 5.2 hits per start.

 

As far as Garcia sees it, this Sox staff is as good, if not better, than the one he was a part of in Seattle in 2001. All the Mariners did that season was win 116 games, with four members of the rotation winning at least 15 games.

 

 

ORLANDO HERNANDEZ: The veteran has shown his savvy already in just four starts, opening with a 2-1 record and a 2.35 ERA by using off-speed pitches and location to deceive hitters.

 

Hernandez rarely hits the high 80s on the radar gun, but he has proved he doesn't have to. His main problem has been location, as he has walked 11 in 23 innings. Add that to 28 hits allowed, and he has had to pitch his way out of some serious jams.

 

Come May 12, Hernandez will be two years removed from arthroscopic surgery to repair a partially torn rotator cuff. He figures to get stronger as the season progresses, and then there is October.

 

If the Sox can advance to the postseason, Hernandez has nine playoff victories in his career with a 2.65 ERA and 101 strikeouts. All three numbers are second-best in New York Yankees playoff history.

 

 

JOSE CONTRERAS: The big right-hander with the filthy forkball is trying to become more reliant on his fastball, but all he wants is a victory first. Contreras is 0-0 after four starts but does have a 3.48 ERA. And to his credit, the Sox have won three of the four games he has started.

 

Contreras has been dealing with a balky right hamstring since spring training, and it finally acted up on him last week at Kansas City. He was diagnosed with everything from a cramp to a strain to having scar tissue from a previous injury.

 

Contreras' average of .725 strikeouts per inning is tops on the Sox' starting staff, though he does lead the starters with 12 walks despite having the fewest innings (202/3).

 

The Sox signed Hernandez in the offseason as a pitcher first but also to serve as guide for his Cuban friend Contreras. Hernandez received high marks for guiding Contreras to his best outing April 7, when he gave up one run and four hits in six innings.

 

 

BULLPEN: Since that April 7 game ended with Contreras getting a no-decision because the bullpen gave up 10 runs, Sox relievers have been dominating. They have a 2.47 ERA since that day with 43 strikeouts in 17 games.

 

The Sox led the early Rolaids Relief Man team standings by a wide margin, and without the 10-run disaster, they would have a collective 2.45 ERA.

 

Shingo Takatsu appears to be over some early struggles with six saves in seven chances, while Dustin Hermanson hasn't given up an earned run but did allow an inherited runner to score in the ninth inning Wednesday to give the A's a victory.

 

Hermanson has two saves and Damaso Marte has one to give the Sox nine as a staff.

 

Takatsu has a 7.94 ERA and Luis Vizcaino a 7.30 mark, but the rest of the relievers have a combined 2.08 ERA.