Mark Buehrle Is Fine...Or Is He?

No, he's fine.

With last night's game against the Twins being postponed thanks to rain, the White Sox had to adjust their starting rotation for the first time this season. Of course, the adjustments they made immediately caused an uproar that something must be wrong with Mark Buehrle.

It seemed logical that instead of jumbling the rotation around because of one day off, that the Sox would just push everybody's expected start back a day. Jose Contreras was supposed to start on Thursday, but instead will pitch tonight against the Tigers, and Gavin Floyd will get the start on Saturday. Then the "controversy!"

Instead of having Mark Buehrle pitch the series finale against Detroit on Sunday, Mark is going to get the start against Oakland on Saturday. In his place on Sunday, Javier Vazquez will get the nod. Why the change? Well, there's a pretty good reason for it actually.

“It keeps everyone out there as close as possible without sitting too long,’’ Don Cooper said. “And the big thing is Oakland might be more susceptible to lefties, as well as Tampa. This is the best way we figured it out with, No. 1 what’s best for the team, and No. 2 what’s best for the individual. The match-ups have a small part to do with it.’’

Buehrle went 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA in two starts against Oakland last season, while Vazquez has a career 6.60 ERA against the Athletics. As far as Oakland against left-handers this season, they’re hitting .204 with two home runs. The Sox are hoping to take advantage of that with Buehrle and then Danks.

So that's settled.

It's also best to get Buehrle as much rest as possible whenever you can. He's never been a flamethrower in danger of blowing out his arm, but he has thrown over 200 innings each of the last seven seasons. I don't care how hard you throw, at some point, that's going to catch up to you. Arms just aren't supposed to undergo that kind of treatment.

Besides, while the month of April is littered with off days for teams thanks to weather concerns, once we hit May and the summer months, days off become a rarity. So it's best to get your guys as much rest as you can while it's still early.