The Curious Case of Mark Buehrle - Fantasy Baseball

Mark Buehrle, league leader in wins

First of all, if you can even spell Mark Buehrle, then I tip my cap to you. He doesn't care though, since he's been Mr. Burly to start the season instead. Believe it or not, he's your MLB leader in wins along with a 0.86 ERA.

To begin the year, Buehrle nearly went the distance at Tropicana - 8.2 innings, 4 hits, 0 ER, and dominated in unexpected fashion with 11 Ks. No one saw this coming, and I went straight to the wire to grab him as he was due to face the lowly Astros his next turn. He got the win as I hoped, and I dropped him shortly thereafter in anticipation of a shellacking at Camden.

Earlier today, Buehrle threw 7 innings of 1-run ball on 5 hits against one of the most potent lineups in baseball, the Orioles. And he did it in Camden Yards to boot, where last year Camden had the 4th highest park factor for home runs, according to ESPN. Getting himself in a jam in the first, he got Adam Jones to ground out to short, bringing in a run, but settled in nicely the rest of the way. If you had him in your lineup, I tip my cap to you again. OK, no more tipping! That's two days in a row now after getting Chinese food yesterday.

Now for the dicey part. Buehrle hasn't had an ERA under 3.50 since 2005, so there is some regression to obviously be expected here. He's a fly ball pitcher who doesn't get strikeouts and is prone to homers. And he's slated to face the Indians next, who are 5th in runs scored and they don't strike out much. His next start after that? The Red Sox. Tread lightly, my friends.