Sox need Buehrle to be all he can be

For the White Sox to be all they want to be, Mark Buehrle might have to go back to being everything that people used to think he was.The Sox already are pretty good but they aren#146;t the #146;27 Yankees good, as indicated Friday in a 15-10 victory at Cleveland.This turned out to be too stressful for its own good.Anyway, more significantly the Sox aren#146;t as good as the Red Sox and Yankees have been the past decade or so.But maybe the Sox can be by September when the stretch run arrives and October when the playoffs arrive.Some other teams can be, too. Perhaps the Twins, Angels, Rays, Tigers or Rangers can be. Maybe even the A#146;s can be.But some pleasant surprises must conspire for a team to reach the standard that the Red Sox and Yankees set.For the White Sox, that would be some mix of Carlos Quentin staying healthy for a change, rookie Brent Morel playing solidly at third base, Gordon Beckham reaching his potential in his third year, Alex Rios having that superstar year that was predicted for him ...Put Mark Buehrle somewhere at the top of that list.Buehrle is such a good guy in the clubhouse and to the media that it feels almost insensitive to demand more of him than he has been providing.Yet as long as Jake Peavy#146;s health figures to be a persistent issue, other starters have to move up a notch in the rotation.That could mean that John Danks becomes the No. 1 starter. But even if that#146;s so, it sure wouldn#146;t hurt if Buehrle became No. 1A.Buehrle made his ninth Opening Day start for the Sox a special one. He pitched 6 innings, gave up 8 hits and didn#146;t allow a run until the Sox led 14-0, then gave up 4.Good enough, not great, sort of what Buehrle#146;s career has become. As powerful as the Sox#146; offense is, it won#146;t provide him with 15 runs every outing.Still, we#146;re clearly talking about a pitcher who can rise to that special moment when everybody is noticing.Buehrle is 4-1 in season openers, including 2010 when he not only won, he made a fielding play nobody in baseball matched the rest of the season.Then there#146;s that Buehrle stood out while helping the Sox win the World Series in 2005, pitched a no-hitter in 2007 and added a perfect game in 2009.This season, though, the Sox would benefit considerably if Buehrle did more in between those spectacular performances.In other words, the Sox need Buehrle to be the man of the moment during more moments than he has been in recent seasons.Buehrle needs to be more than an innings eater, which he has been by logging more than 200 in every one of his full major-league seasons.Buehrle has to not only be dependable. He has to be dependably good from now until and through the postseason, if the Sox are fortunate enough to qualify.Perhaps the Sox can get to the World Series with Buehrle going 13-10 like two years ago or 13-13 like last year, but that would strain the rest of the rotation.Now, if Buehrle can approach the 19-12 he was in 2002, the Sox have a chance to approach the level that the Red Sox and Yankees are on.Maybe it#146;s asking too much of a 32-year-old pitcher with all those innings out of his arm.But the White Sox have to ask it of Mark Buehrle.mimrem@dailyherald.com