{image1}In one moment last Friday night, Ben Sheets was cruising to a shutout victory over the Braves, and the Brewers were bearing down on .500 once again. In the next moment, Sheets had suffered a torn right latissimus dorsi, the Brewers were clinging to a 3-1 victory and the elusive .500 mark seemed to become that much more slippery.

Unless something changes drastically, Sheets' 2005 season is over. Pitching in one of the best grooves of his career, Sheets was chasing his fourth complete game of the season and perhaps his most impressive when he felt a twinge in his upper right back. Just like that, Sheets had lost his last six scheduled starts and a solid chance of setting a career mark for wins (he finished with 10; his personal best is 12).

Sheets also missed over a month this spring with a rare inner-ear disorder, and he landed on the disabled list as a rookie in 2001 with tendonitis in his right shoulder. Sheets also underwent back surgery last October to correct a recurring problem.

In light of the contract extension Sheets signed prior to 2005, frustrated Brewers fans may be wondering if their ace is injury-prone. Or worse, is he -- gasp -- Milwaukee's version of Kerry Wood, a talented but injury-riddled would-be star?

Wood emerged on the scene in 1998, a few years prior to Sheets' rookie season in 2001. But there are a comparable group of young stars with similar experience levels to Sheets, including Mark Mulder (a rookie in 2000), Johan Santana (debuted in 2000, but wasn't a full-time starter until 2003), Barry Zito (2000), Roy Oswalt (2001), Jake Peavy (2002) and Mark Prior (2002). Is Sheets any more or less durable than they are?

From 2002 to 2004, Sheets made 34 starts in each season and averaged over 224.1 innings pitched, impressive totals in today's bullpen-dominated era. By comparison, Mulder averaged 212 IP in his first four full seasons (2001-04); Santana averaged 193 in 2003-04; Zito averaged 222.2 IP from 2001-04; Oswalt averaged 199 IP from 2002-04; and in their first two full seasons (2003-04), Peavy averaged 180 IP and Prior tallied 164.2 IP.

Arguably, Zito is the most durable (he's on pace for his fifth straight year of at least 34 starts) with Sheets placing second among this unscientific group of young pitchers. There may be other players to consider here, but the verdict is in regardless: Sheets isn't injury-prone.

But another issue comes up when comparing this group of starters: productivity. Sheets is the only one who hasn't won 15 games in a season. Arguably, his impressive 2004 season (12-14, 2.70, 264 strikeouts) should have ended with more wins. In fact, only Johan Santana's Cy Young-winning campaign last year featured a better WHIP than Sheets' mark of 0.98 in 2004, and that includes every season in the career of each one of these pitchers.

Yet the wins weren't there. Counting this season, Mulder has five consecutive 15-win years, Oswalt has three (non-consecutive), Zito has two, and Santana, Peavy and Prior each have one. Sheets has never won 13. And wins are the thing.

There are extenuating circumstances, of course. Other than Peavy, all those pitchers have performed on playoff teams. And while I'm not suggesting that any of the last five Brewers teams was playoff caliber, they would have been closer with a staff ace winning between 15-20 games.

In short, winning is the next stage in Sheets' development. Simple, right? But anyone who witnessed Friday's game against the Braves has no question about Sheets' ability to dominate the very best hitters in the game. Now, Sheets has to take that amazing stuff and normal durability and turn it into a 17-, 18- or 20-win season. And a funny thing may happen if he does: a probable 14-win season by Chris Capuano or a double-digit wins by Doug Davis become more impressive because they are compiled in supporting roles. And that's the stuff of which playoff teams are made.

Sheets turned 27 last month. Obviously, there is still time for him to progress to the next level of stardom. But there isn't an endless amount of time. The Brewers are building something exciting in Milwaukee, but unless the organization is ready to be satisfied with intermediate goals (.500, finishing ahead of the Cubs, etc.), Ben Sheets must be more than just the best pitcher on the Brewers. He must become one of the best -- and winningest pitchers -- in the National League.