I did a quick search to find out if there were any decent jewish players besides Green and Braun, and I found this guy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rub%C3%A9n_Amaro,_Jr.
Congrats.
The point was just that Buehrle is really really really good. Maybe he's Stanton to Maddux's Trout. I dunno. But there's every reason to believe that Buehrle's defense makes the kind of impact that pitcher defense doesn't usually make. DRS picks up on it.
That's a bit beside the point. I'm not saying he won't improve. I'm saying that 85 innings with an ERA a run less than his xFIP isn't enough to start wondering if maybe he has a skill for putting up an ERA a run less than his xFIP. If 500 innings from now Sanchez still has a 3.5 ERA and 4.5 xFIP, than maybe you can entertain the possibility that there might be something there.
I think it's overwhelmingly more likely that he figures things out and brings the ERA down, or keeps doing what he's doing and the ERA goes up. I don't think he'll keep doing what he's doing and maintain the 3.5 ERA. That would be unprecedented.
Buehrle's ERA is 3.81 and his xFIP is 4.19. DRS estimates that he's saved 87 runs defensively since 2003. That takes his ERA to 4.05. Tack on another 15 runs for the ~500 innings he pitched before DRS and you get 4.10, which brings you to a meaningless difference between his ERA and xFIP.
As to him not being close to the best ever, his 87 DRS ranks first since we started tracking. Only 4 pitchers have 50 or more. Is he the best ever? Who the f*** knows. But if we talked about pitcher defense in terms like that he'd be a generational talent.
Buehrle isn't really the mystery people make him out to be. Career ERA less than half a run less than his xFIP, and you can chalk it up to being maybe the best defensive pitcher ever. You can look at the numbers and account for Buehrle's run prevention. You can't do that for Sanchez, and after only 85 innings, there isn't really a reason to try. He keeps it up for another 500 innings and maybe you start to take a deeper look. There's no reason to expect that he will though.
It will be interesting to see if this works for you. People keep trying this framework in the LOD (player + pick/prospect for upgrade) and nobody bites. I can't remember the last time we saw a deal like that in the DDL.
Huh? That's the default position when a guy's results don't match his peripherals. 0ER with 4BB and 1K over 7 IP in a start? Lucky. 3.5 ERA with a 4.5 xFIP ver 55 innings? Lucky until more evidence suggests it isn't luck.