Mark Buehrle
Buehrle threw 200 innings in 14 of his 16 seasons, a monument to durability in an era where starters increasingly became fragile. His 3,283 career innings rank among the highest for any pitcher who debuted after 2000, built on surgical command rather than overpowering stuff.
The southpaw's defining trait wasn't his 88-mph fastball but his tempo — he worked faster than any pitcher of his generation, routinely finishing games in under two hours. That efficiency masked elite precision: four Gold Gloves and a career 1.28 WHIP that ranked consistently among baseball's best. His 2005 season anchored Chicago's World Series run with a 137 ERA+, the best mark of his career.
Buehrle represents the last of a dying breed — the workhorse starter who took the ball every fifth day without fail. In 16 seasons, he made 30-plus starts 13 times, never missing significant time to injury.
Career · Hitting
16 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | CWS | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2001 | CWS | 32 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .250 | 33 |
| 2002 | CWS | 34 | 6 | 0 | 0 | .167 | .333 | 45 |
| 2003 | CWS | 35 | 6 | 0 | 1 | .167 | .333 | 44 |
| 2004 | CWS | 35 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 2005 | CWS | 33 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 2006 | CWS | 32 | 4 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 2007 | CWS | 30 | 5 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 2008 | CWS | 34 | 6 | 0 | 0 | .167 | .333 | 44 |
| 2009 | CWS | 33 | 4 | 1 | 1 | .250 | 1.250 | 167 |
| 2010 | CWS | 33 | 5 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 2011 | CWS | 31 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .500 | 1.500 | 208 |
| 2012 | MIA | 31 | 67 | 0 | 1 | .045 | .104 | 14 |
| 2013 | TOR | 33 | 4 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 2014 | TOR | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2015 | TOR | 32 | 7 | 0 | 0 | .143 | .393 | 54 |
| Career | 518 | 125 | 1 | 3 | .072 | — | — | |
Career · Pitching
16 seasons| Year | Team | G | IP | W | L | ERA | ERA+ | SO | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | CWS | 28 | 51.3 | 4 | 1 | 4.21 | 113 | 37 | 1.442 |
| 2001 | CWS | 32 | 221.3 | 16 | 8 | 3.29 | 134 | 126 | 1.066 |
| 2002 | CWS | 34 | 239.0 | 19 | 12 | 3.58 | 119 | 134 | 1.243 |
| 2003 | CWS | 35 | 230.3 | 14 | 14 | 4.14 | 106 | 119 | 1.350 |
| 2004 | CWS | 35 | 245.3 | 16 | 10 | 3.89 | 115 | 165 | 1.255 |
| 2005 | CWS | 33 | 236.7 | 16 | 8 | 3.12 | 137 | 149 | 1.183 |
| 2006 | CWS | 32 | 204.0 | 12 | 13 | 4.99 | 91 | 98 | 1.446 |
| 2007 | CWS | 30 | 201.0 | 10 | 9 | 3.63 | 123 | 115 | 1.259 |
| 2008 | CWS | 34 | 218.7 | 15 | 12 | 3.79 | 114 | 140 | 1.335 |
| 2009 | CWS | 33 | 213.3 | 13 | 10 | 3.84 | 112 | 105 | 1.252 |
| 2010 | CWS | 33 | 210.3 | 13 | 13 | 4.28 | 95 | 99 | 1.403 |
| 2011 | CWS | 31 | 205.3 | 13 | 9 | 3.59 | 110 | 109 | 1.295 |
| 2012 | MIA | 31 | 202.3 | 13 | 13 | 3.74 | 107 | 125 | 1.171 |
| 2013 | TOR | 33 | 203.7 | 12 | 10 | 4.15 | 93 | 139 | 1.345 |
| 2014 | TOR | 32 | 202.0 | 13 | 10 | 3.39 | 110 | 119 | 1.356 |
| 2015 | TOR | 32 | 198.7 | 15 | 8 | 3.81 | 104 | 91 | 1.243 |
| Career | 518 | 3283.2 | 214 | 160 | — | — | 1870 | — | |
Each pitch type this pitcher throws regularly, placed by how the ball moves — sideways break across, rise or drop down the side. Each dotted ring holds about the middle 85% of the league’s pitches of that type, so a cluster sitting outside its ring is movement most pitchers don’t have.
The dots — a sample of this pitcher’s regular-season pitches, placed by movement: left–right is horizontal break, up–down is induced vertical break (what the pitch does beyond gravity). The view is handedness-neutral — positive break is toward the pitcher’s arm side for lefties and righties alike, so every sinker runs right and every sweeper breaks left, whoever throws it.
The dotted rings — about the middle 85% of where each pitch type lands league-wide (a 2-standard-deviation spread), measured from 7.5 million regular-season pitches since 2015. A cluster sitting well outside its ring is movement most of the league doesn’t get. Spring training and the postseason are excluded.
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.