Take a good look at the White Sox rotation this spring, and don’t blink.
No matter how the Sox fare in 2001, there’s a very strong chance it will look completely different one year from now.
Three of the Sox’s top four starters–David Wells, James Baldwin and Cal Eldred–all could be wearing different uniforms in 2002. No one needs to gaze into a crystal ball to foresee a future rotation consisting of Jim Parque, Jon Garland, Kip Wells, Jon Rauch and Mark Buehrle.
So while there’s no doubt the Sox are going for it all this year, they also are thinking ahead, trying to build a rotation that will grow up together.
“Some organizations have older guys on the team, like the Indians,” Buehrle said. “They’re starting to break up, and now they’re going to have to go back to where we were a couple years ago–bringing in younger guys and getting the guys to start playing together. We have some young guys now who are starting to get good. In a couple of years, we all should be pretty good.”
Buehrle, who turns 22 on March 23, made the jump from Class AA Birmingham last July after only 30 minor-league starts. He was sent to the bullpen after three starts and provided the Sox with some much-needed relief from the left side, compiling a 3.53 earned-run average.
Though manager Jerry Manuel once again has pegged Buehrle as his middle-inning left-hander, he acknowledged it may be a short-term assignment.
“I prefer starting, but right now I really don’t care,” Buehrle said. “Manuel said he wants to sit down and talk to me about what my duties are this year. He said they haven’t forgotten me as a starter. [Baldwin] is a free agent, and David Wells–I don’t know how long he’s going to be signed for. He’s getting older, so he might be out of here in a little bit. As long as I’m here, I don’t care what I’m doing.”
Buehrle’s future as a starter basically depends on whether the Sox pick up the option on Wells. Parque is pretty much set for a while, so it’s doubtful the Sox would use three left-handed starters in 2002.
“As an organization, we can’t dismiss the fact [Buehrle] could be a good lefty starter,” Manuel said. “But for what we need now, his role is as a reliever. I mentioned that to him, but I want to sit down and see that he understands [this]: `Your career is not always going to be as a middle reliever. You have the potential to be one of the starters. It’s just that you came along so quickly. We had a need, and you filled it very well and we’re going to try to continue that until we see there’s a different swing, and then we’ll give you an opportunity [to start].'”
How can Buehrle skyrocket to the majors from Class AA while the Sox keep insisting their phenom, the 6-foot-11-inch Rauch, probably won’t be able to make the same jump this spring? After all, Buehrle was unheralded at his call-up, while Rauch is coming off a year in which he was named Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year.
“Mechanically, command and everything else, Buehrle is at the top,” Manuel replied. “Rauch is talented, but maybe does not have the command. A lot of times you have to evaluate how those numbers came about. Some guys will swing at a guy like Rauch because they can’t hit him, while a major-league hitter will not swing at that ball. There’s command and there’s control. Rauch may have good control, but Buehrle has great command.”
“Control is throwing in the strike zone, and command is putting it somewhere in that zone. Buehrle is able to go anywhere. Rauch can control that zone, but he can also say, `I want to throw it down there,’ but then he throws it up here. Yet he has so much talent that he might be able to get away with that [in the minors], whereas he won’t be able to get away with that in the big leagues. The term they use now is `pitchability.’ Buehrle was ahead [of Rauch] as far as pitchability–how to back off on a curveball, how to change up, when to throw it. That’s the difference.”
With the season-ending injury to Bill Simas, middle relievers Buehrle and Lorenzo Barcelo will be counted on more than ever. Former General Manager Ron Schueler took a significant risk by calling up Buehrle with so little professional experience, but the move may pay dividends for new GM Ken Williams.
Buehrle already has the presence of a veteran, which is half the battle.
“Getting the confidence from coming up last year, I know I have a chance to do well,” Buehrle said. “But I’m just trying to make the team. I can’t come in here having the attitude that I’ve made it. There’s a good chance that I’ll [make it], but I don’t want to think that way. Another young lefty, like [Ken] Vining, can come in this spring, and if [he does] better than I do, they may take [him] instead.”
For now, the spot is Buehrle’s to lose. Who will replace him in the pen if he joins the rotation next year is anyone’s guess.
