Would you vote for Chase Utley for the Baseball Hall of Fame?
The Baseball Writers Association of America has released the ballot for the 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame voting, so we are doing polls on the players on the list.
Today is second baseman Chase Utley.
Chase Utley was the Philadelphia Phillies’ first round pick in 2000 out of UCLA, three years after he was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second round out of high school. Utley split the 2003 season between AAA and the majors, and started the 2004 season in AAA before joining the big league team in May of that year.
Starting in 2005, Utley went on a five year run where he was one of the best players in baseball. His 39.7 bWAR from 2005 to 2009 was the second best in MLB in that stretch, behind only Albert Pujols, who had a 44.6 bWAR. Only one other player — Alex Rodriguez — had at least 30 bWAR over that five year span.
In that half-decade, Utley slashed .301/.388/.535 with a 135 OPS+, had 100+ runs scored four times, had 100+ RBIs four times, was a well above average defender at second base each season, and was 77 for 87 in stolen bases. Although he was either second or third in the league in bWAR among position players every one of those five years, he never finished higher than 7th in the MVP voting.
Utley missed time in each of the next three years, but still put up a 5.8 bWAR in 115 games in 2010, a 3.8 bWAR in 103 games in 2011, and a 3.1 bWAR in 83 games in 2012. After two more seasons in the mid-3s in WAR, Utley fell off a cliff in 2015 — after ten straight seasons with an OPS+ no worse than 108, Utley put up a 75 OPS+ and 629 OPS in 2015, a season during which he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he was reunited with former teammate Jimmy Rollins. Utley spent the 2016-18 seasons with the Dodgers as a role player, and retired after the 2018 season.
Chase Utley ended his career with 1885 hits, 259 home runs, and remarkable 154 for 176 success rate on stolen base attempts. He slashed .275/.358/.465, for a 117 OPS+. Utley made six All Star teams and won four Silver Slugger awards although, remarkably, he did not ever win a Gold Glove.
Utley ended his career with 64.5 bWAR, 15th all time among second basemen, between Craig Biggio and Jackie Robinson. Ten of the second basemen ahead of him are in the Hall of Fame. The four who are not are Lou Whitaker, Bobby Grich and Willie Randolph, all of whom should be in the Hall, and Robinson Cano, who is not eligible. Utley’s JAWS score places him 12th among second basemen, passing Whitaker, Biggio and Roberto Alomar among those who have a higher bWAR.
Among position players who are Hall of Fame eligible, who are not in the Hall, and who have not been excluded due to PED issues, I will note that the top two players in terms of bWAR are Lou Whitaker and Bobby Grich. Quality defensive second basemen with well-rounded skill sets tend to get overlooked by voters.
So, if you were a Hall of Fame voter this year, would you vote for Chase Utley?
Cast your vote below…