NEWS: Chase Utley finishes strong in 2nd year on Hall of Fame ballot

Legendary Phillies double play duo Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins have both made progress on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot.

In his second year on the ballot, Utley jumped to 39.8% (157 votes out of 394). He debuted at 28.8% in 2024. As of Tuesday morning, Utley was polling at 51.2% on Ryan Thibodaux’s Hall of Fame ballot tracker. Just like his first season, Utley saw a drop off between percentage of votes in publicly-revealed ballots before the announcement and the actual vote.

Only Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, Billy Wagner, Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones finished this year with more Hall of Fame voted than Utley.

It sure looks like Utley has a strong chance at eventually earning election into the Hall of Fame. It may take a few years, but he is on pace to reach 75%.

The same can’t be said for Rollins. While his vote total has increased every year, he would need a bigger push to get elected. It’s possible, as Wagner debuted at only 10.5% in 2016 and finally reached 75% this year. Wagner’s incredible comeback, however, can be attributed to many of the steroid era players such as Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens falling off the ballot and the evolving sentiment among voters around relievers and their place in the game’s history.

Rollins, who was polling at 20.3% in the tracker, finished this year at 18% with 71 of 394 votes in his fourth year on the ballot. Rollins finished at 14.8% in 2024.

Rollins’ former teammate Bobby Abreu received slightly more votes a year removed from the two teammates finishing with the same vote total. He finished at 19.5% with 77 of 394 votes.

Wagner was elected to the Hall of Fame in his 10th and final season on the BBWAA ballot with 82.5% of the vote. Sabathia made it on the first ballot at 86.8%. Suzuki was one vote shy of joining Mariano Rivera as the only Hall of Fame voted in unanimously by the BBWAA with 393 out of 394 votes (99.7%).

To earn election into the Hall of Fame, players must receive 75% of the vote in a given year. Players are eligible to spend 10 years on the Baseball Writers Association of American ballot as long as they receive at least 5% of the vote in each season of eligibility. 2026 will be year three for Utley, year five for Rollins and year seven for Abreu. Cole Hamels is eligible for the Hall of Fame ballot beginning next season.

Chase Utley finishes strong in 2nd year on Hall of Fame ballot

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