My review of the 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot currently continues with a trio of NL East infielders who may not have enough momentum to qualify for Cooperstown, although at least one seems to have a chance. The roster here would be longtime Phillies Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins, as well as longtime Mets third baseman David Wright.
All three players are poll survivors. Utley debuted with 28.8% of the vote last year in his first try, while Wright got 6.2% in his first try. In Rollins’ first three rounds, he received 9.4%, 12.9% and 14.8%, respectively.
Let’s go.
Chase Utley
Utley was a bit of a late bloomer given his pedigree as a first-round pick out of UCLA, as he didn’t have a full season as a starter until he was 26 years old. He would make up for it by bringing together one of the greatest. five seasons for a second baseman we’ve seen posting at least 7.3 WAR in each of his first five full seasons, hitting 9.0.
The only position players to have five or more 7-WAR seasons are Rogers Hornsby (eight times), Eddie Collins (eight), Nap Lajoie (seven), Joe Morgan (five), Charlie Gehringer (five) and Utley. Ryne Sandberg and Jackie Robinson have each arrived there four times. Of those who achieved at least five such seasons, only Utley and Morgan did so after integration.
Five great seasons alone aren’t usually enough to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, but Utley has surrounded this elite-level pinnacle with a lot of good.
In 16 years, he hit .275/.358/.465 (117 OPS+) with 1,885 hits, 411 doubles, 259 home runs, 1,025 RBIs, 1,103 runs and 154 stolen bases. It’s generally been tough for players with fewer than 2,000 hits, but Utley’s 724 walks should help things along with his high peak and power prowess for a second baseman. Among second basemen, he ranks seventh in home runs, 17th in RBIs, and 11th in hits (among those with at least 1,000 games).
It’s certainly possible to argue that Utley hasn’t compiled enough to warrant inclusion in the Hall of Fame. After all, he didn’t even get 30% of the vote last season. To me, however, he is a top contender and his peak was certainly enough to overcome a very slight gap in some career stats.
The JAWS system balances career performance with the top and Utley is 12th all-time among second basemen. Of the 20 Hall of Famers in this position, the average inductee scores 57.1 in JAWS; Utley is at 56.9. The average is also decently skewed by the gaudy numbers of Hornsby (100.5) and Collins (94.3). The highest post-integration number is Morgan’s, 80.
Utley leads Lou Whitaker (who should be in, for me), Roberto Alomar and Craig Biggio while being behind only nine Hall of Famers, Bobby Grich (who should also be a member) and Robinson Canó (who would be headed to the Hall the first round of voting if not for two PED suspensions). He’s part Jackie Robinson and Ryne Sandberg.
I have I did a deeper dive beforebut Utley is a yes vote for me on this ballot.
Jimmy Rollins
MVP, World Series champion, four-time Gold Glover, Silver Slugger and Roberto Clemente Award winner, Rollins certainly has a lot of hardware.
His MVP season (2007) was a clinic in counting stats. He played in every game and accumulated 212 hits, 38 doubles, 20 triples, 30 home runs, 94 RBIs, 139 runs and 41 stolen bases.
Durability was also an important part of Rollins’ game. He played in at least 154 games in 10 of his 17 seasons. He topped 700 plate appearances seven times and had 699 in another.
In total, Rollins appeared in 2,275 matches. He hit .264/.324/.418 (95 OPS+) with 2,455 hits, 511 doubles, 115 triples, 231 home runs, 936 RBIs, 1,421 runs and 470 stolen bases. Hits, runs, triples and steals look good. Rate statistics do not. That’s a relatively low average if we’re talking about Hall of Famers, while the OPS+ shows below-average combined on-base and hitting skills over his career.
However, he was a great player across the board, so does that show up in WAR and JAWS?
Unfortunately for this incredibly fun player, the answer isn’t really. He’s 27th among all-time shortstops in WAR, behind Jim Fregosi and Francisco Lindor (who could eventually become a Hall of Famer, but he’s only 31). In JAWS, Rollins is 34th, behind Nomar Garciaparra, Troy Tulowitzki, Miguel Tejada and Carlos Correa.
I have Previously mentioned, Rollins’ case is more than his numbers. This isn’t Hall of Statistics and there is a “wow” factor to Rollins. He was a heart and soul guy on those great Phillies teams from 2007 to 2011. Is that enough to fill the void on his statistical resume? So far the answer appears to be no.
David Wright
Once upon a time, Wright was headed to the Hall of Fame. His foundation through age 25 was strong enough that Mookie Betts, Dick Allen, and Scott Rolen were among his similar stats at that age.
Until age 30, Wright was a career .301/.382/.506 hitter (137 OPS+) with over 1,500 hits, 345 doubles, 222 home runs, and over 850 runs and RBIs. Once again, he was on the right track.
Then the back injuries occurred.
Wright finished with 1,585 games in his career. He hit .296/.376/.491 (133 OPS+), which is pretty good on a rate basis. He was only able to compile 1,777 hits, 390 doubles, 242 home runs, 970 RBIs, 949 runs and 196 stolen bases. Especially looking at home runs and RBIs for a third baseman, not to mention hit totals, this is a shortfall by established Hall of Fame standards.
Wright is 29th in WAR among career third basemen, behind near-HOF guys like Graig Nettles, Buddy Bell, Ken Boyer, Sal Bando and Darrell Evans, but also like Robin Ventura, Ron Cey and Toby Harrah. JAWS should provide a boost, since Wright’s career was cut short and his peak was great. Instead, that only puts him at 27th, still behind Evans, Ventura and Cey, not to mention still-active players like Nolan Arenado, Manny Machado and José RamÃrez.
I have went more in-depth on Wright beforebut ultimately, I just can’t put it into “yes” territory.
That’s enough to say with confidence that Wright falls into the same basket of bad luck – due to injury – as Don Mattingly, Johan Santana and, based on this poll, probably Dustin Pedroia. And many more from baseball history. The game is a cruel mistress.
