Miller or Buehrle

[chavakula]

now with wade miller heating up, would you rather have miller or mark buehrle, who had a pretty decent game, but got a ND.

so would you rather have miller or buehrle for the rest of the season?

thanks

[jdh]

I would definitely rather have Miller. All things being equal, Miller is far better than Buerhle because he is a power pitcher that gets lots of K's while Buerhle is a finesse pitcher that won't help you in the strikeout category. Also, Hoston has an offense that should provide lots of run support while everything about the White Sox is a total disaster right now. Add into it the fact that last year, Miller actually started worse than he has this year and went on fire in the second half, and you can probably draw the conclusion that Miller is just a slow starter.

Buerhle's real value the past couple years came in the wins category; he had 18 and 19 wins but didn't have a great ERA, WHIP and almost no K's, making him really a one category performer. With the White Sox providing no run support, there won't likely be many wins this year either, and if he isn't getting lots of wins, Buerhle is no more useful than a Nate Cornejo type pitcher.

[Guest]

All things being equal, Miller is far better than Buerhle

Buehrle is 41-29 lifetime with a 3.68 ERA
Miller is 40-25 with a 3.96 ERA

[jdh]

But you want to look at Miller's stats for the last two seasons.

2001: 16-8, 3.40 ERA, 183 K's
2002: 15-4, 3.28 ERA, 144 K's (only 164 innings)

His career ERA is inflated because of a shaky rookie season in 2000, and a couple appearances in 1999.

Here's Buerhle's numbers the past two years:

2001: 16-8, 3.29 ERA, 126 K's
2002: 19-12, 3.58 ERA, 134 K's

As I mentioned, he is not getting the wins this year because the White Sox offense is terrible and providing no run support. Miller plays for a better team, gets more K's and better run support, making him a better option.

[Pogotheostrich]

Miller by far. Buerhle has been awful and doesn't strike anyone out.