After posting a 57-29 record at the All- Star break, the Sox have started the second half at 17-15. Of course before the recent five game skid they were at a not too shabby 17-10. I decided to look at some pre and post break numbers to see if anything stands out.
Runs per game pre: 4.81
Runs per game post: 4.63
ave/obp/slug pre: 262/323/420
ave/obp/slug post: 258/318/433
ERA pre: 3.62
ERA post: 3.81
unearned runs per game pre: .31
unearned runs per game post: .41
Runs allowed per game pre: 3.95
Runs allowed per game post: 4.32
As you can see, the Sox have begun to slip a little bit in every category. Runs scored decreased by .18/game while runs allowed increased by .37/game, narrowing their advantage from .86/game down to .31/game. Getting Podsednik back should help a little. However, their batting stats suggest they are not getting the clutch hits they were at the beginning of the year as their OPS is about the same. I'm not sure how much we can hope the offense to improve without making a trade.
Pitching and fielding have slipped a little, as both earned and unearned have increased in the second half. Buehrle is responsible for most of this drop as his post break ERA is 4.53 after finishing the first half at 2.58.
Hopefully Buehrle isn't injured and will be effective the remainder of the year. But maybe these poor outings are a blessing in disguise if he falls out of the Cy Young race and he can skip a few starts before the playoffs.