In recent weeks the once formidable White Sox pitching staff has been pretty damn awful. After spending the majority of the season with the best ERA in the American League, White Sox starters have had an ERA of 6.75 in the team's last 20 games, and they've fallen to sixth in the league.So is it that the staff is just going through a rut, and slogging through the dog days of summer, or is there a deeper mental issue? Is the pressure of a divisional race getting to them? If you ask Mark Buehrle it has nothing to do with any pressure, well, unless your Gavin Floyd. That's guy is a mental marshmallow.
''If anything, Gavin might be a guy that's affected,'' Buehrle said. ''[John} Danks is so laid-back, it doesn't seem like anything bothers him. Where Floyd, it seems like there's a little bit more that gets to him. A bigger situation or bigger game might get him more nervous, but Danks isn't a guy I worry about.''Keep in mind that Buehrle is 8-10 on the season, while Danks is 9-4. Floyd is 11-6. Though I'm not saying that Mark is wrong in his assessment, I'm just wondering why he feels the need to say it publicly. Gavin Floyd is a pitcher that lets things bother him on the mound, and his confidence is extremely fragile, so questioning that in the paper probably won't do much to help it.
Especially when you already play for a team who has a manager that has no qualms what-so-ever about ripping you in public.
