Why former White Sox ace Mark Buehrle deserves to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame

In 2025, Cooperstown inducted three new Hall of Famers via the BBWAA ballot. Outfielder Ichiro Suzuki and left-handed pitcher C.C. Sabathia made it in on their first ballot, with legendary closer Billy Wagner getting in on his tenth. They reached baseball immortality alongside the late Dave Parker and Dick Allen, who entered through the Veterans Committee. Former Sox lefty Mark Buehrle, in his fifth year on the ballot, received 11.4% of the writers’ vote, far from the 75% needed for enshrinement. Wagner followed a similar path, debuting at about 10% and steadily increating over time, finally making it in his final year with 82.5%. Buehrle could follow the same trajectory and is absolutely deserving of his place in history.

Buehrle, a native of St. Charles, Missouri, made his debut with the Chicago White Sox in 2000 at the age of 21 and, just two years later, made his first all-star appearance with the club. He would go on to make four All-Star teams with the Sox in 2002, 2005, 2006, and 2009, before making a fifth and final All-Star team with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2014. By the end of his career in 2015, Buehrle had compiled 216 wins, a career ERA of 3.81, and 59.0 Wins Above Replacement.

Buehrle's White Sox career featured some incredible moments

The two biggest highlights of his career both came with the White Sox and forever made him a legend in Chicago. The first came in the third game of the 2005 World Series against the Houston Astros. Buehrle came into that ballgame with the Sox leading by one in the 14th inning, and on just one day’s rest, secured the win, pushing the White Sox to a 3-0 series lead. The next night in Houston, they'd go on to win their first World Series title in 88 years. The second came in 2009, when Buehrle threw a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays, becoming just the second White Sox pitcher to accomplish this feat.

Now, let’s dive deep into his Hall of Fame case, starting with the argument against him. While Buehrle put up solid counting stats like WAR and a good amount of wins, he never finished higher than fifth in the Cy Young voting and benefited from longevity. He also led the American League in hits four times and never posted an ERA under 3 in a season, unlike most Hall of Fame southpaws. When you pair that with his inability to strike batters out, it becomes hard to see a case for Buehrle. 

However, when you look into his more advanced stats, you’ll see a different story. The first thing to unpack is his 3.81 ERA, which is misleading. Buehrle started his career in one of the highest run-producing environments in history, now referred to as the steroid era. For his career, Buehrle had an ERA+ of 117, meaning he was 17 percent better than league average over his 15 years in the big leagues. For comparison, Nolan Ryan posted just a 112 ERA+ for his career. Buehrle also matches or exceeds inductees Phil Niekro, Gaylord Perry, C.C. Sabathia, Don Sutton, Early Wynn, and Burleigh Grimes. Buehrle's career 59.0 WAR is a major selling point for his case. In that category, he accumulated more than Sandy Koufax, Lefty Gomez, Jack Morris, Mordecai Brown, Rube Waddell, and many other legendary pitchers. Buehrle ranks 66th all-time in WAR. The left also also won four Gold Glove awards and was one of the best defensive pitchers in the league throughout his career.

You will not see a Mark Buehrle Hall of Fame induction in 2026. The best-case scenario for him would be the vote jumping to around 25-30%, creating some momentum for a possible induction later on. It will be interesting to see how the writers vote this year, but nevertheless, when you take into account his consistency and overall production, Buehrle makes a very interesting case. Hopefully the writers see it the same way.