What years did Neal Cotts play?

Neal Cotts played in Major League Baseball from 2003 to 2015.

Was Neal Cotts a pitcher?

Yes. Neal Cotts pitched in the major leagues, recording 21 wins and 421 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Neal Cotts hit?

Neal Cotts hit 0 career home runs with 1 hits.

What was Neal Cotts's career batting average?

Neal Cotts batted .500 over his career, with 1 hits in 2 at bats.

What was Neal Cotts's career ERA?

Neal Cotts finished with a 3.96 career ERA, going 21-24 with 421 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Neal Cotts have?

Neal Cotts recorded 421 career strikeouts.

Neal Cotts

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (2003-2015)

Neal Cotts was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 2003 to 2015 for 5 teams, including the Chicago White Sox, a span of 13 seasons. Across 483 career appearances, he went 21-24 with a 3.96 ERA and 421 strikeouts.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated September 8, 2026

W–L 21–24

ERA 3.96

WHIP 1.35

SO 421

Pitcher PIV -1991.7

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: L / L
Height / Weight: 6'2" / 200 lb
Born: 3/25/1980 in Belleville, IL, USA
MLB Debut: 2003-08-12
Last Game: 2015-10-03

Full name: Neal James Cotts

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Career Pitching Statistics

Neal Cotts — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
21	24	483	5	0	0	4	443.3	405	195	58	194	421	3.96	-1991.7

Career ERA 3.96 vs. league average 4.24 across their career seasons — 6.6% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Neal Cotts Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
2003	CHA	AL	1	1	4	4	0	13.3	15	12	17	10	8.10	4.40 (-84%)	-643.9
2004	CHA	AL	4	4	56	1	0	65.3	61	41	30	58	5.65	4.46 (-27%)	-1488.2
2005	CHA	AL	4	0	69	0	0	60.3	38	13	29	58	1.94	4.29 (+55%)	2042.0
2006	CHA	AL	1	2	70	0	1	54.0	64	31	24	43	5.17	4.53 (-14%)	-1911.9
2007	CHN	NL	0	1	16	0	0	16.7	15	9	9	14	4.86	4.47 (-9%)	-11.1
2008	CHN	NL	0	2	50	0	0	35.7	38	17	13	43	4.29	4.32 (+1%)	-112.3
2009	CHN	NL	0	2	19	0	0	11.0	14	9	9	9	7.36	4.32 (-70%)	-938.2
2013	TEX	AL	8	3	58	0	1	57.0	36	7	18	65	1.11	3.87 (+71%)	2443.4
2014	TEX	AL	2	9	73	0	2	66.7	66	32	23	63	4.32	3.74 (-15%)	267.6
2015	MIL	NL	1	0	51	0	0	49.7	44	18	17	49	3.26	3.96 (+18%)	-947.0
2015	MIN	AL	0	0	17	0	0	13.7	14	6	5	9	3.95	3.96 (avg)	-692.1
Career · 11 seasons			21	24	483	5	4	443.1	405	195	194	421	3.96	—	-1,992

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Neal Cotts — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
483	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.500	.500	1.000	1.500	0

Career AVG .500 vs. league average .262 across their career seasons — +91.0% above league average.

Career OBP .500 vs. league average .329 across their career seasons — +52.2% above league average.

Career SLG 1.000 vs. league average .415 across their career seasons — +141.2% above league average.

Career OPS 1.500 vs. league average .743 across their career seasons — +101.9% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Neal Cotts Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	H	2B	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
2003	CHA	AL	4	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2004	CHA	AL	56	1	1	1	0	1.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2005	CHA	AL	69	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2006	CHA	AL	70	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2007	CHN	NL	16	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2008	CHN	NL	50	1	0	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2009	CHN	NL	19	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2013	TEX	AL	58	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2014	TEX	AL	73	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2015	MIL	NL	51	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2015	MIN	AL	17	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 11 seasons			483	2	1	1	1	.500	—	—	—	—	0

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Neal Cotts — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Neal Cotts — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AVG
2008	NLDS1	CHN	2	.000
2005	ALCS	CHA	1	.000
2005	ALDS1	CHA	1	.000
2005	WS	CHA	4	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Neal Cotts — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1	0	8	0	0	4.0	2	0	2	5	0.00

Playoff Pitching by Year

Neal Cotts — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	G	IP	H	BB	SO
2008	NLDS1	CHN	0	2	1.7	1	1	3
2005	ALCS	CHA	0	1	0.7	0	0	0
2005	ALDS1	CHA	0	1	0.3	0	0	0
2005	WS	CHA	1	4	1.3	1	1	2

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (964 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Neal Cotts — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	252	1	0	0	0	0	.000
Away	230	1	0	1	0	0	1.000

Pitching — Home / Away

Neal Cotts — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	252	235.1	227	102	113	219	3.90
Away	230	207.0	178	93	80	201	4.04

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Neal Cotts — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
2015-10-03	MIN	KCR	—	0.0	1	2	0	1	0	0
2015-09-30	MIN	CLE	—	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0
2015-09-25	MIN	DET	—	0.0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2015-09-24	MIN	CLE	—	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0
2015-09-23	MIN	CLE	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2015-09-19	MIN	LAA	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	3	0
2015-09-17	MIN	LAA	—	1.0	2	1	1	1	0	1
2015-09-16	MIN	DET	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2015-09-14	MIN	DET	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0
2015-09-09	MIN	KCR	—	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Neal Cotts — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	483	5	20	57	3	6

Season-by-Season Fielding

Neal Cotts — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
2003	CHA	P	4	4	1	1	0	1
2004	CHA	P	56	1	1	8	1	1
2005	CHA	P	69	0	2	14	0	2
2006	CHA	P	70	0	4	9	0	1
2007	CHN	P	16	0	0	2	0	0
2008	CHN	P	50	0	2	4	2	0
2009	CHN	P	19	0	0	2	0	1
2013	TEX	P	58	0	5	5	0	0
2014	TEX	P	73	0	3	7	0	0
2015	MIL	P	51	0	2	5	0	0
2015	MIN	P	17	0	0	0	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Neal Cotts Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	483

Awards & Honors

Neal Cotts — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
2005	This Year in Baseball Setup Man of the Year	MLB.com GIBBY

Salary History

Neal Cotts — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
2015	MIL	NL	$3,000,000
2014	TEX	AL	$2,200,000
2009	CHN	NL	$1,100,000
2007	CHN	NL	$825,000
2006	CHA	AL	$400,000
2005	CHA	AL	$330,000
2004	CHA	AL	$301,000
Total Career Earnings			$8,156,000

College History

Neal Cotts — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
Illinois State University	Normal	IL	1999, 2000, 2001

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Neal Cotts (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Frequently Asked Questions about Neal Cotts

What years did Neal Cotts play?: Neal Cotts played in Major League Baseball from 2003 to 2015.
Was Neal Cotts a pitcher?: Yes. Neal Cotts pitched in the major leagues, recording 21 wins and 421 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Neal Cotts hit?: Neal Cotts hit 0 career home runs with 1 hits.
What was Neal Cotts's career batting average?: Neal Cotts batted .500 over his career, with 1 hits in 2 at bats.
What was Neal Cotts's career ERA?: Neal Cotts finished with a 3.96 career ERA, going 21-24 with 421 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Neal Cotts have?: Neal Cotts recorded 421 career strikeouts.