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Neal Cotts

Chicago Cubs — No. 48
Relief Pitcher
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
Major League Baseball debut
August 12, 2003 for the Chicago White Sox
Selected MLB statistics (through August 14, 2006)
Wins	10
ERA	4.00
Strike Outs	162
Former teams
Chicago White Sox (2003-2006) Chicago Cubs (2007-present)

Neal James Cotts (born March 25, 1980 in Belleville, Illinois^{[citation needed]}) is a left-handed pitcher currently with the Chicago Cubs.

Contents 1 College career 2 Pro career 3 Trivia 4 External Reference

Cotts attended Illinois State University, and won first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors and was named to the ACBA All-Midwest Region team. He was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 2nd round of the 2001 draft, becoming the second highest player drafted in the history of Illinois State.

Cotts spent the 2002 season in Class A Modesto of the California League, winning 12 games in 28 starts. Over the offseason, Cotts was traded to the White Sox in a six-player deal involving relief pitchers Billy Koch and Keith Foulke.

Cotts began the 2003 season ranked as the number three prospect in the White Sox farm system. He started his year in Class AA Birmingham, of the Southern League, going 9-6 with a 2.12 ERA, and 131 strikeouts. In July of 2003, Cotts started for the United States in Major League Baseball's Futures Game. He debuted for Chicago on August 12, 2003, starting against the Anaheim Angels and pitched 2.1 innings, allowing two runs, two hits and six walks. He received a no-decision in the game. On August 22, Cotts won his first game against the Texas Rangers, pitching five innings and allowing five hits. Cotts ended the season with a record of 1-1 and an 8.10 ERA.

In 2004, new manager Ozzie Guillen inserted Cotts into the bullpen. Cotts finished April with a 0.90 ERA, but from May-July had an ERA of 8.28. He finished the season with 65.1 innings pitched, a 4-4 record, and an ERA of 5.65. On June 18, Cotts got his first major league hit, a double, off Luis Ayala of the Montreal Expos.

In 2005 Cotts went 4-0 while appearing in 69 games, throwing 60.1 innings and compiling a 1.94 ERA, 58 strikeouts, and yielding just 1 home run. MLB.com awarded Cotts the "Setup Man of the Year Award", an award determined by fan voting. In the American League Championship Series, Cotts was the only person to pitch out of the bullpen in the Sox 4-1 series win, throwing 2/3 of an inning in Game 1. Cotts pitched in all four games of the World Series and was the winning pitcher Game 2.

On November 16, 2006 Cotts was traded to the Chicago Cubs for relief pitcher David Aardsma and minor league pitcher Carlos Vasquez.

Originally wore number 38 for the White Sox, but switched to number 46.

After the White Sox clinched the division Cotts was asked if he prefers beer or champagne; he answered, "Whiskey."

• Neal Cotts at ESPN.com
• Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis