MLB Insider vouches for Mark Buehrle in the future HOF originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Recently, White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle did not receive enough votes to qualify for the Hall of Fame, keeping him out of Cooperstown for the third straight year.
However, he did receive above the threshold line to remain on the ballot for the future ballot. Buehrle received 42 votes, or 10.8 percent of votes, for the HOF. Despite not making it into the Hall this season, one MLB Insider claims his case is strong enough to make it in the future.
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"Mark Buehrle, by the way, while not necessarily as dominant as a Pedro Martinez or a Max Scherzer. He had 14 straight years of 200 innings or more," MLB Insider Jon Morosi said on 670 the Score with Parkins & Spiegel. "And White Sox fans understand how important he was to the team during that era, how integral that rotation was to that march to the championship in 2005, and how basically they needed one reliever to get through the ALCS."
Buehrle played 16 seasons in the major (12 with the White Sox) and, and as Morosi alluded to, embodied durability as a pitcher throughout his career. He threw over 3,200 innings in his career, leading the league twice in innings thrown in 2004 and 2005. By his career's end, he recorded a 214-160 record as a pitcher, sporting a .572 win percentage.
He earned five All-Star nods, four Gold Golves and was the face of the starting rotation for the White Sox during their World Series run in 2005.
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"That was a special rotation. Buehrle was the ace of that group," Morosi said.
MORE: Mark Buehrle secures spot on HOF ballot next season
Known for his trademark speed on the mound and combination of pitches for lethal sequencing, Buehrle was the White Sox' gem for over a decade. He became one of the more dominant pitchers in baseball, despite earning top-five Cy Young voting once in his career.
For that, Morosi sees a trip to Cooperstown in Buehrle's future.
"You think about the perfect game, the no-hitter, starting an All-Star Game," Morosi said. "When you look at the abject shortage of pitchers in the game now, who throw 200 innings, Mark Buehrle looks better and better as time goes on."
