All White Sox team 1965-2017, pitchers

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The White Sox have long been noted for their ability to develop pitchers, as opposed to being able to produce hitters.  The Sox have had a variety of pitchers over the years, including two 

Starting pitchers:  Chris Sale  In the 50+ years I've watched the White Sox, Chris Sale was their most dominant pitcher.  Of course Chris' time with the Sox derailed when he took up fashion design.  While he was with the White Sox, Sale went 74-50, with an ERA of 3.00.  Sale was a five time all star with the White Sox and put up a WAR of 31.1.  The fact that he brought Michael Kopech and Yoan Moncada back in a trade with the Red Sox shows the esteem with which Sale is held in baseball circles.  While Sale was in Chicago, he struck out 10.1 hitters per nine innings.  The fact that he also led the AL in hit batsmen for two seasons highlighted the fact that Sale was a very uncomfortable at bats.

Starting pitchers:  Wilbur Wood  Wilbur lost effectiveness as time went on in his career with the Sox, but from 1971-74 he won a total of 90 games, winning 20 or more in each of those seasons.  In addition, Wilbur ate up a tremendous amount of innings, pitching over 300 innings in each of those seasons.  Wilbur maxed out at 376.2 in 1972.  That's a lot, even for a knuckleballer.  No wonder he later lost effectiveness.  Wilbur was a three time all star despite being one of the most unlikely appearing pitchers in baseball.

Starting pitchers:  Jack McDowell  During the early 90’s Black Jack put together a nice string of seasons for the Sox.   Jack won 20 games for the Sox in 1992 and followed that up with 22 wins in 1993.  His 1993 campaign was good enough to win the AL Cy Young award.  McDowell was a workhorse while in Chicago.  In 1991 Jack led the AL in complete games with 15.  He also led the AL in complete games the following season with 13.  In 1993 he had 10 complete games, which wasn't good enough to lead the AL, but his four shutouts did.   He didn’t have a real long stint with the Sox but had a nice 5 year run.

Starting pitchers:  Joel Horlen.  Joel pitched for the Sox from 1961-1971 and had a record of 113-113.  I believe Joel would have been voted pitcher voted most likely to lose a 2-1 game.  His prime was from 1965-69.  When the Sox made their run at the pennant in 1967, Joel had his best year, going 19-7 with an ERA of 2.06.  That 2.06 ERA led the Al.  He also finished second in the AL Cy Young voting that season  From 1965-68 Joel had an ERA of under 3.00.  Joel’s won and lost record didn’t match his effectiveness.  Joel was on a staff with Gary Peters.  Gary would have been on this list, but his best years were 1963 and 64 so he just missed the list.

Starting pitchers:  Mark Buehrle  Mark’s career is a testament to consistency.  From 2001-2011 Mark won in double digits every year.  His high water mark was 2002 when he won 19 games.  Mark pitched over 200+ innings for 11 consecutive seasons.  His WAR for his time with the White Sox was an impressive 49.0.  As a bonus, Buehrle was a four time gold glove winner.  He also gets huge bonus points for actually getting the ball and throwing instead of contemplating the meaning of life between pitches.  He finished his stint in Chicago with a record of 161-119 with an ERA of 3.83.  Of course numbers alone don't do Buehrle justice.  In addition to his consistency, Mark is one of the most popular members of the White Sox of all time.

Relief pitchers:  Hoyt Wilhelm I focused on the years 1965-69 in Hoyt’s long career. I was amazed to see he pitched 144 innings in relief in 1965.  In those 4 years, Wilhelm’s ERA was under 2.00 in each year.  Wilhelm’s career with the Sox pre-1965 was also stellar.  Based on effectiveness and sheer volume of usage out of the pen, Wilhelm gets a spot on the roster.  Knuckleballers like Wilhelm and Wood are like the Energizer Bunny, they go on and on and on.

Relief pitchers:  Bobby Thigpen  Bobby’s big year was in 1990 when he had 57 saves.  That actually got him up to fifth in the MVP voting that season.  Thiggy had three other seasons with 30 or more saves.  Like other closers of his time, Thigpen wasn't a huge strikeout guy, averaging only six strikeouts per nine innings.  Eight seasons out of the Sox pen with an ERA of 3.26 is good enough to nail down a slot in this pen.

Relief pitchers: Keith Foulke  Keith had 2 big years in Sox pen and a third decent one.  Foulke had 34 saves in 2000 and followed up with 42 in 2001.  In 2002 he had 11 and was off to Oakland the next year.  While with the Sox, Keith had a nice WHIP of 0.991 and struck out 8.6 hitters per nine innings.  Foulke's changeup could be devastating.

So there it is.  Your thoughts?