PHILADELPHIA — Chase Utley is inching closer and closer to Cooperstown.
Though the Phillies legend once again fell short of being elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday night, he received 59.1% of the vote in his third year on the ballot — a sizable jump from the 39.8% he received last year. Players are required to receive 75% of the votes for induction.
The only players to meet that threshold this year were Carlos Beltran (84.2%) and Andruw Jones (78.4%) — the only two players to receive more votes than Utley.
Utley, meanwhile, continued his push toward being a member of a future class. After seeing an 11-percent jump from his 2024 debut on the ballot to ’25, he surged another 19.3% this time around.
To put Utley’s 59.1% in perspective, it’s worth noting that Jones was at just 19.4% in his third year on the ballot back in 2020. Even Beltran, who was elected in just his fourth year on the ballot, was sitting at 46.5% just three years ago.
In other words, Utley is in prime position to make a legitimate Hall of Fame push over the next few years.
Of course, Utley wasn’t the only former Phillies player up for Hall of Fame consideration this year.
Former Phillies Hall of Fame voting results
• Utley: 59.1% (39.8% last year)
• Bobby Abreu: 30.8% (19.5% last year)
• Jimmy Rollins: 25.4% (18% last year)
• Cole Hamels: 23.8% (first year on ballot)
While two other Phillies — Abreu and Rollins — also saw improvements from a year ago, Hamels made an encouraging debut on the ballot.
Abreu received 30.8% of the vote in his seventh year on the ballot, up from 19.5% last year. While that marked his biggest year-to-year jump yet, he’ll still need to make a significant push over his final three years of eligibility to reach 75%.
Rollins also continued to make strides in year No. 5 on the ballot, jumping from 18% in 2025 to 25.4% this year. Utley’s double-play partner still has another five years of eligibility.
As for Hamels, he had a strong first showing on the ballot at 23.8%. That was easily the highest percentage for any of this year’s debutants. In fact, no other first-year eligible player received the necessary 5% to remain on the ballot for a second year.
Though Hamels never finished higher than fifth in Cy Young Award voting and was only a four-time All-Star, he was arguably one of the best pitchers in the Majors for the better part of a decade. His 1,844 strikeouts during his 10 seasons with the Phillies ranked third during that span, trailing only Félix Hernández — who received 46.1% of the vote this year in his second chance of the ballot — and Justin Verlander.
Then, of course, there’s Hamels’ postseason success. At just 24 years old in 2008, Hamels recorded a 1.80 ERA over five postseason starts and became the fifth player to be named the MVP of both the League Championship Series and the World Series in the same year. He led the Phillies to their first title since 1980.
Hamels’ case will be an interesting one to monitor in the coming years. So, too, will that of Utley, who could be lined up for enshrinement as soon as the next year or two.
