Kuzul

As I’m sure most of you know at this point, Chicago White Sox pitcher Philip Humber tossed the 21st perfect game in major league history.

Humber was absolutely masterful in Saturday’s 4-0 win against the Seattle Mariners, striking out nine and throwing just 96 pitches.

It was the least number of pitches in a perfect game since David Cone’s back in 1999—he threw 88 pitches in that contest.

That low number of pitches is mostly because of Humber’s ability to avoid three-ball counts. His first three-ball count of the afternoon didn’t come until the ninth inning.

He went 3-0 on Michael Saunders before striking him out, and he also went to a full count on Brendan Ryan before striking him out to end the contest.

I’m sure many of you are in fantasy leagues if you’re reading this article, and I’m sure many of you will have the same question: Should I add Humber?

Well, I’m going to present you with some facts first.

Personally, I am just a member of several CBS fantasy leagues, as I prefer their scoring system and overall layout. So, here is the information on Humber from CBS.

Owned/Started prior to start: 29 percent/22 percent

Owned/Started now (will likely increase): 42 percent/18 percent

Points prior to start: 9.5

Points now: 42 (32.5 came from this start)

Clearly, fantasy managers around the nation have added Humber to their squads in hopes of him continuing his recent success.

If you can afford to drop a player and add Humber to see if he can pitch well yet again, I say, why not?

If you have to drop a player who can help you in the stretch run, I strongly urge you to resist the temptation of picking up Humber.

On the season, Humber is currently 1-0 with an ERA of 0.63 through 14.1 innings.

Last season, his first as a regular member of the rotation, Humber went 9-9 with an ERA of 3.75. Through 163 innings, he struck out 116.

Those numbers are respectable in a major league rotation, but not so much in a fantasy rotation.

In leagues where strikeouts are valuable and wins earn extra points, Humber actually wasn’t that valuable last season. Add in the fact that some leagues actually dock points for losses, and Humber is even less valuable.

I don’t expect much more out of him this season, even though he’ll likely make more starts than he did in 2011 (26).

Overall, I predict a 12-10 season from the 21st member of the perfect game club. He’ll likely throw around 175 innings, but won’t strike out more than 130 batters.

Those numbers translate to a possible injury-replacement fantasy starter, but definitely not someone to keep on your roster for the long haul.

Congratulations, Mr. Humber, on your historic accomplishment. Unfortunately, it still hasn’t warranted you a spot on my fantasy team.

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Philip Humber joined a very exclusive club on Saturday when he threw a perfect game against the Seattle Mariners.

We’re still checking as to whether or not a perfect game against the Mariners actually counts as a real perfect game, but it was an impressive feat nonetheless and serves as Humber’s second solid start of the season.

OK, this one was a little bit more than solid, but don’t automatically dismiss this outing as a fluke. The Humber Games put together a 3.75 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP in 26 starts last season. He has some good value. 

But is Humber, who is owned in just 1.7 percent of ESPN leagues and 20 percent of Yahoo! leagues, worth a pickup?

In deeper leagues, yes. In shallow leagues, maybe.

The 29-year-old Humber has never been a spectacular strikeout pitcher who has the ability to blow everyone away. He only K’d 116 batters in 163 innings last season, but he’s off to a terrific start this year as he struck out seven against Baltimore and nine today against Seattle.

His slider—and all of his off-speed stuff, really—is working really well. If he can continue to mix up his pitches effectively, there’s no question he’ll increase that strikeout rate.

What Humber has always been good at, however, is his ability to limit walks and just pitch effectively and intelligently. Last season, he only walked 41 batters, and that’s why his WHIP was so low at 1.18.

I’m a sucker for pitchers with who have a low WHIP, because it usually means they are smart, and most importantly, know how to pitch. They don’t need over-powering stuff, and neither does Humber. He’ll paint the strike zone, so even on bad nights he won’t be terrible.

Essentially, he has a low ceiling but a high floor. 

What you need to be careful with, however, is the fact that Humber doesn’t get a ton of ground balls. His GB/FB ratio last season was 0.89, which means he’ll have his games where he gives up a home run or two. 

Nonetheless, Humber has clearly had good stuff this year and serves as a speculative pickup. Best-case scenario, he’ll keep the ball down, increase his strikeouts and put up an ERA in the low threes.

Worst-case scenario, he gives up a good amount of home runs and his ERA gets in the fours, but his WHIP stays low.

He’s worth it. 

Follow @t_keen

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White Sox pitcher Philip Humber threw the 21st perfect game in Major League Baseball history on Saturday afternoon, dominating the Seattle Mariners for nine innings without allowing a single baserunner. 

Few clubs in baseball are as exclusive as the perfect game club; with just 21 (22, if you include Armando Galarraga’s botched no hitter in 2009) members, it remains one of the premier pitching achievements of all time. 

But just how perfect was Humber’s gem? Where does it rank in the club? Let’s take a look at every perfecto thrown in the modern era and figure out just where the 29-year-old righty’s falls on the list. 

So grab your rosin bag and practice shaking off the catcher, and let’s get started, shall we? 

Begin Slideshow

Chicago White Sox starter Philip Humber has thrown the 21st perfect game in MLB history.

This perfecto was the first this year and is part of a recent trend of no-hitters. Humber retired all 27 Seattle Mariners batters in a 4-0 win. 

The last pitcher to throw a perfect game was Roy Halladay on May 29, 2010. Halladay accomplished his perfect game against the then-Florida Marlins. Mark Buehrle of the White Sox tossed a perfect game in July of 2009.

Humber’s feat marked the first time that he went the distance in any major league game. His previous high was 7.2 innings. In April of 2011, Humber had a no-hit bid through 6.1 innings against the New York Yankees.

Humber has dealt with some injuries since being drafted third overall by the New York Mets in 2004. His most significant injury to date was when he required Tommy John surgery in 2005. 

Humber was picked up by the White Sox in January of 2011. 

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Chicago White Sox pitcher Philip Humber became the first pitcher since Roy Halladay to throw a perfect game as he shut out the Seattle Mariners, 4-0.

Most of the game was smooth sailing for the 29-year-old Humber, but pinch-hitter Brendan Ryan provided some dramatics in the last at-bat.

Ryan worked Humber all the way to 3-2, then Humber threw him a curveball that was out of the zone and got away from catcher A.J. Pierzynski. The shortstop threw a half-swing at it, and the umpire called him out.

If Ryan wouldn’t have stopped to argue, he may have been able to make it close play at first base. Or if the ump said Ryan successfully checked up, which was very possible, the perfect game would have been over.

Nonetheless, it was Humber’s ninth strikeout of the game, and it completed perfection. 

Humber, who has jumped around between the Mets, Twins, Royals and is now in his second year with the White Sox, was very good as a starter last year, starting 26 games and putting up an ERA of 3.75.

But he was never this good.

Humber rolled through Seattle’s lineup with ease, as the Mariners only hit the ball hard once or twice. Humber needed a nice play from Brent Lillibridge in the outfield earlier in the game, but that was about it.

The right-hander needed just 96 pitches, and threw an amazing 67 of them for strikes as he made a perfect game look about as easy as possible. He didn’t even have a three-ball count until the ninth inning. 

“I can’t even put it into words,” said Humber in a postgame interview on the field. 

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A year ago around this time, Philip Humber of the Chicago White Sox nearly pitched a no-hitter against the New York Yankees.  He did not allow a hit to the Bronx Bombers for the first 6 1/3 innings of a game at Yankee Stadium. 

Nearly a full calendar year after his great performance in the Bronx, Humber has thrown the third perfect game and eighteenth no-hitter in Chicago White Sox history.  He did it on a beautiful day in Seattle with the roof open at Safeco Field. 

The game could not have gone any better for Humber.  He went down 3-0 against Michael Saunders to start the ninth inning but fought back for a strikeout.  He then quickly got John Jaso to fly out to right fielder Alex Rios for the second out of the inning. 

The final out of the perfect game came against pinch-hitter Brendan Ryan.  As some fans booed and others cheered as loud as they could, Ryan sent Humber to a full count.  He fouled off the first 3-2 pitch before striking out on a checked swing in the dirt.  The ball bounced away and catcher A.J. Pierzynski picked it up to throw to first baseman Paul Konerko to complete the 21st perfect game in history. 

The 28-year-old Humber, out of Texas, was mobbed by his teammates near the mound and given a cool shower by shortstop Alexei Ramirez in celebration.  Chicago won the game 4-0 to improve their record to 8-6 in this young season.   

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Philip Humber was absolutely masterful in Saturday’s ballgame against the Mariners.

He tossed the full nine innings without allowing a run, a hit or a walk, making him the 21st pitcher in major league history to throw a perfect game.

Humber struck out nine in the contest and lowered his ERA to 0.63.

On the season, Humber is now 1-0.

Baseball fans across the nation will now make Humber a household name, and maybe they’ll even learn how to pronounce it (pronounced “umber”).

Literally everything was working for him in the ballgame, as he was able to throw all of his pitches for strikes.

He was very economical, throwing just 96 pitches in the game.

Congratulations Mr. Humber, you’ve earned it. Welcome to the history books.

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The Chicago White Sox have dealt with injuries throughout the 2011 season, using a deep starting rotation to accommodate injuries to Jake Peavy and John Danks.

Tyler Flowers is getting the job done so far replacing injured catcher A.J. Pierzynski, and Paul Konerko is swinging a dangerous bat in spite of a nagging bone bruise on his left knee.

Is losing Phil Humber going to finally topple the house of cards in Chicago?

Humber’s start ended early after being stuck by a line drive Kosuke Fukudome early in Thursday night’s loss to the Indians. It appeared that Humber was all right following his removal from the game and he even sounded positive about making his next scheduled start.

However, we won’t see Humber on the mound for a couple of weeks.

The White Sox placed the pitcher on the 15-day disabled list Friday, as reported by Evan Drellich of MLB.com. Zach Stewart replaced Humber and pitched two innings after finishing up for Mark Buehrle the night before.

Stewart’s acquisition takes on more importance with each passing day since he came over from Toronto with Jason Fasor. It may be up to Stewart to hold down the back of the rotation as Chicago attempts to stay in the AL Central picture.

The White Sox pitching depth has been the saving grace of a disappointing offensive effort this season. Can that depth see them through a tough series with Texas, followed by a short jaunt out west?

Josh Kinney was brought up from Charlotte to replace Humber on the pitching staff. His job looks to be taking Stewart’s role in the bullpen so that the 24-year-old right-hander can make Humber’s starts. Stewart is scheduled to pitch Wednesday in Anaheim.

Kinney tossed three scoreless innings after Jake Peavy was done in by the long ball in the first six. Unfortunately it came in a losing effort, Chicago’s fifth in a row.

The White Sox now trail Detroit by five games and will be without Humber and Pierzynski for the rest of the month. Hopefully no one will join those two on the DL and the team can at least tread water in the standings for awhile.

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