I would just like to state that I was as skeptical as anyone over the aquisition of Mark Beuhrle this offseason. No doubt it can be disputed that he is being drastically overpaid for a soft leftly pitcher on the back of of his career. However, one thing that kept being reiterated by Jays fans and sports columnists alike is that this guy is sure-shot 200+ innings eater, and a craftly veterin presence in the locker room.
I would just like to state that after a disasterous April and a less than spectacular May, Mark has really found his groove and has given this team 4 consecutive quality starts over the past couple weeks. In typical Jays' fashion, our starting rotation has been absoloutely ravaged by injuries, and three out of our five starting pitchers (Morrow, Johnson, Happ) have missed significant playing time in the first half of the season with the fourth (Dickey) playing at less than 100% as well. How nice is it to have a guy with such uncanny DURABILITY, who is ready to go each and every time is name is up for the start?
By no means am I suggesting Mark Buehrle is deserving of the monstrous contract we took on with him, but it sure has been nice to have at least one of our starting pitchers stay healthy and consistenly be good for 5-6 innings per start, even on an off night. I'm looking forward to watching Beuhrle pitch for the remainder of the season and I sure hope he can emulate the success he has been having this June. Most definitely he has played a significant role in this hot stretch we are currently riding, and his value to this team at this point cannot be understated.
Thoughts anyone?