Paul M. Banks highlights the remarks of the White Sox staff ace and Opening Day starter
We all know that coaches and athlete interviews are usually the most boring things to read/listen to imaginable, so (as always) I made sure to do the screening for you and leave in only the interesting and relevant things the player/coach had to say.
Mark Buerhle has been among the best and most consistent pitchers in baseball since 2001. In the past 8 years, he leads all of MLB pitchers in innings pitched, quality starts and opponents grounding into double plays. Over that span, he’s also 3rd in wins, 4th in starts and sixth in complete games.
On March 3rd, he saw the birth of his second child, a daughter named Brooklyn.
On Tuesday, Buehrle will tie Billy Pierce’s club record with his seventh career Opening Day start. Pierce will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the game. -President Barack Obama was invited, but his job keeps him quite busy these days, and he will be in Turkey.- Pierce, who spent 13 seasons with the White Sox, was named to the White Sox “All-Century Team” in 2000, had his uniform #19 retired in 1987 and a sculpture of the lefty pitcher was unveiled at U.S. Cellular Field in 2007.
“The whole history thing hasn’t really sunk in, once I retire and get out of baseball, you look and think about what you did for the organization, the years you were here, everything you accomplished I think it will mean more and sink in more then.”
Getting the opening day start is quite an achievement, because it’s typically reserved for the staff ace…
“Especially with the years that {John} Danks and {Gavin} Floyd had last year, for them to name me it’s definitely an honor. The first day is a big day because it’s such a buildup of two months of spring training. First day is a big day because it’s kind of a big release for everybody.”
Regarding the longest Spring training ever…
“If I had my say so, I’d go down there for 3-4 starts maybe, it doesn’t take me long to get ready. I don’t throw much in the off-season, I take the off-season and I if I had to get ready and do no spring training, it wouldn’t take me long,”
On the importance of the Sox to answer questions about their defense this year…
“I don’t think we have many strikeout pitchers on this team, so especially for me to have the guys behind me field the ball- cuz they’re going to put the ball in play a majority of the outs, so for me it’s huge to have the confidence to throw the ball wherever I want to know the guys are gonna go get it”
Games that Buerhle pitches in notoriously take less time than usual, so fans braving the cold, wet elements on Tuesday will likely not be outside for the full length of a regular game. Seven of his career starts have taken less than two hours. The Sox ace spoke about Mother Nature impacting the opener…
“I like to pitch obviously when it’s warm, I like to break a sweat when I’m pitching out there. I don’t like when you go and throw 15-20 pitches and you’re not even breaking a sweat. Obviously it will be more difficult trying to stay loose. I don’t really know if it’s an advantage for me or them. I don’t like pitching in the cold weather and I’m sure they don’t like hitting in it, but both sides have to deal with it, and we can’t do anything about it., so go out there and do the best you can,”
Having confidence in his changeup…
“I worked on it in between starts and playing catch in the bullpen, it’s one of those things in starts throughout the year: you’re going to have good pitches and not good pitches. It could be one of hose things my changeup wasn’t working a couple days and then I go out there and my changeup could be outstanding, but then my cutter isn’t working too well, it’s one of those things it’s just a work in progress for all your pitches”
His outlook on the AL Central…
“Injuries are going to be a big thing. You look at the Indians, and two of their top hitters went down and it’s hard to compete when that happens, so if everyone stays healthy in this division it’s gonna be one of the better divisions.”