The Other Fifteen

His stuff won't intimidate you, but it just might embarrass you.

Mark Beuhrle, fresh off of his perfect game in his last start, had another perfect game going through 5 innings tonight.  Although things unravelled for him in that 6th inning and he didn’t reach a second consecutive perfect game, which would have been one of the most improbable feats in baseball history, he did manage to set a major league record by recording 45 consecutive outs.  With Buerhle writing his name all over the baseball history books this week, I got to thinking: Is Mark Buehrle a Hall of Famer?  Let’s take a look at the evidence:

• A 133-91 record
• A 3.76 ERA and 1.258 WHIP
• Not a strikeout pitcher, he still boasts better than 2.5K/BB lifetime
• 200+ innings pitched in all of his 8 seasons as a starter, leading the league in innings twice
• At least one complete game in all 8 seasons as a starter, averaging 3 CG per season
• Routinely ranking in the top 10 in every AL pitching category other than strikeouts
• Twice led the league in starts and innings
• In his first year starting, he led the league in WHIP, had a 16-8 record, and threw 24 2/3 scoreless innings in a row in one stretch
• Works faster than any pitcher in baseball
• Pitched a game that lasted only 1 hour and 39 minutes, the shortest MLB game in over 20 years (striking out 12 batters)
• In 2006, he gave up 7 runs in the 1st inning, but hung on to win the game, the first time a pitcher had done that since 1900
• Had a streak of 49 consecutive starts that was only snapped when he was tossed for beaning BJ Surhoff in retaliation of the Baltimore pitchers beaning his teammates repeatedly
• In 2008, he led the majors in double plays induced
• In White Sox history, he currently ranks 5th in strikeouts, 6th in starts, 8th in wins, and 8th in innings pitched
• 4 All-Star appearances, including the starter in 2005
• A playoff record of 2-1 with an ERA of 4.11
• A complete game in the 2005 ALCS
• One quality start and one save in the World Series (on consecutive nights, which had never happened before in WS history)
• A World Series ring
• One No-Hitter
• One Perfect Game
• A MLB record 45 consecutive outs in 45 batters faced

Now, given that he’s only 30 years old and the way he’s pitching this year, Mark Buehrle still probably has some of his best years ahead of him.  If he continues on his career path thus far, he will approach 250 wins in 7 to 8 years.  Given his durability and lack of stress on his arm from his soft tossing, Buehrle should be able to pitch into his late 30s or beyond.  If the White Sox continue to contend, and there’s no reason they shouldn’t with Kenny Williams at the head, he should be able to add to his playoff resume, and maybe his World Series resume.

As it currently stands, he doesn’t get in.  But as his career stats start to pile up, and he continues to be the ace of a winning team, it will get a lot closer.  If he continues to write himself in the record book, though, the arguments against will start to seem arbitrary.  Buehrle almost had his first no-hitter in 2005 against Seattle, except he couldn’t get Ichiro out.  He no-hit the entire rest of the team, but Ichiro went 3 for 3, which says a ton about both players.  Even his no-hitter was only one walk away from being a perfect game, and right afterward he picked the guy off at first, meaning he still faced the minimum 27 batters.  What I’m saying is, there’s a high possibility that he could have another no-hitter or another perfect game at some point.  That would certainly seal the deal.  If not, I think a Cy Young award would do a lot to put him over the Hall of Fame hump (he’s never finished higher than 5th in voting), and with the way he’s pitching right now, it just might happen this year.  Let me know what you think of his chances, and where you see him in context of pitchers in this decade.

To check out his complete stats, go to Baseball-Reference.com