This piece was written for Sports On Earth.
Ten wins against one loss with a 2.10 ERA is a hell of a way to start a season.
If it was Justin Verlander, Jose Fernandez, Matt Harvey or Clayton Kershaw attached to those numbers, well, I’d be more than happy to dub the lucky hurler as my early favorite for a Cy Young.
But it’s not.
10 and 1 against a 2.10 ERA is the start of Mark Buerhle’s 2014 season, a pitcher whose fame is deeply rooted in his resiliency and flashes of pitching magic, not his wire-to-wire dominance.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Buerhle. I love the way he, in a game that can’t help but get slower season after season, speeds things up. I love that, when I covered him as the Jays radio color-man, I had to keep my commentary concise because no sooner had I started talking about what he was doing than he was already winding up to do it again. I love the way he poo-poos over-thinking the pitching process, focuses on reading the batter in the moment, and pitches like it’s not baseball, but speed chess.
I’d love to see Buehrle win 20 games and win a Cy Young in 2014. Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s going to happen. Because as much as I love the 35-year-old, his teammates — specifically his offense and defense — love him even more….
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