We’ve made it. Today we find out who will be elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame for the 2025 BBWAA election. And for the last few months, I’ve told you about three out of the four former Phillies on this year’s ballot: Billy Wagner, Bobby Abreu, and Jimmy Rollins. Last but not least, “The Man”: Chase Utley.
Chase Utley (Phillies tenure: 2003-2015)
Utley was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second round of the 1997 MLB Amateur Draft, but didn’t sign with the team. He instead chose to go to college and play baseball at UCLA. Utley played three years at the school, and then was drafted by the Phillies 15th overall in the 2000 Amateur Draft. The second baseman played three years in Philadelphia’s minor league system, and made the Major League roster as a bench player heading into the 2003 season. Chase made his first start on April 24th, 2003, and is a day that he and many Phillies fans will never forget. In his second at-bat, he clubbed a grand slam off of Rockies right-hander, Aaron Cook, to right field for his first career hit, and obviously, home run. But not even less than a week after Utley had his big day at the plate, he was sent down to AAA where he would spend most of the season before he was called back up to the Big League club in August, where he would finish out the rest of 2003. Utley would begin the 2004 season back in AAA, as veteran infielder Placido Polanco was to play second base again, after filling in at third for the injured David Bell in ‘03. But, Polanco would go down with a quadriceps injury in May of the 2004 season, opening up another spot at second for the former UCLA Bruin. Chase did show some potential while Polanco was out, hitting 5 home runs and 21 RBI in 25 games, but only hit .235 with a .265 on-base percentage. Polanco came back June 8th, and Utley would be a part-time player and pinch-hitter for the rest of 2004. Utley got his chance in 2005 after the Phillies traded Polanco to the Tigers in the off-season following ‘04. And he broke out in a big way. He produced a .291/.376/.540 slashline with 28 home runs and 105 RBI. Those numbers would result in a .915 OPS and thanks to some fantastic defensive metrics, a 7.3 WAR. That season would start a six-year stretch of Chase arguably being the best second baseman in the game. Here are his rankings in that span at the position:
WAR: 1st (49.3)
Hits: 2nd (1,095)
Home runs: 2nd (190)
RBI: 2nd (616)
OPS: 1st (.896)
Slugging percentage: 1st (.513)
Defensive runs saved: 1st (122)
Pretty darn good. And he missed a decent chunk of time in 2007 and 2010 from injuries. So the fact that Utley was able to put up those numbers while missing some time is impressive, and shows just how good he was during that stretch. Along the way, he helped the Phillies win the World Series in 2008, win two pennants, and make the playoffs five straight times, including 2011. He also tied Reggie Jackson for most home runs in a World Series in 2009, with five dingers. “The man” had quite a prime.
I mentioned Chase missing time because of injuries in ‘07 & ‘10, and unfortunately his ability to stay healthy was an issue for the last four-plus years he was in a Phillies uniform. From 2010-2012, he averaged only 100 games per season. In 2013, he played in 131 games, but missed time because of a strained oblique muscle in his rib cage. From 2010-2013, Chase put up good numbers when he did play, which makes it even more frustrating to think about what could have been if he had stayed relatively healthy. During that four year span, Utley’s average per 162 games are as follows: 6.1 WAR, 21 HR, 184 RBI and a .807 OPS. And he was still an elite defensive second baseman. He averaged +7 defensive runs saved during that time period. Most players would take that many DRS over a full season.
2014 would be Utley’s last full season with the Phillies. He was fortunately able to stay healthy that year, playing 155 games. He made the All-Star team for the first time since 2010, hitting 11 home runs and driving in 78 runs. He garnered a slashline of .270/.339/.407 with a 108 OPS+.
At the start of 2015, many fans were wondering when the Phillies were truly going to rebuild. They were coming off of back-to-back 73-win seasons, and their core that had helped them win in 2008 and stay a contender for years thereafter were aging. The 36-year old Utley was a part of that core. He was only hitting .179 with 4 home runs in 65 games by the All-Star break of that season. The Fightins were 29-62 at that point, and were on pace for their third straight season to finish well under .500. In July the Phillies would trade former World Series MVP and homegrown starting pitcher, Cole Hamels, along with lefty reliever Jake Diekman for five prospects that had huge implications that the team was looking to rebuild. Was Utley next? Well, a few weeks later with rumors that a trade could possibly happen, the Phils long-time second baseman was no longer going to be wearing red pinstripes. Phillies General Manager, Ruben Amaro, traded Utley to the Los Angeles Dodgers for two minor league prospects on August 19th, 2015. The California native was going to play for the team he grew up watching.
Rest of Utley’s career
Chase would not be the same player as he was in his prime years with the Phillies when they were contending and winning division titles, but the Dodgers knew that. After he was traded to Los Angeles in 2015, he would slash just .202/.291/.363 in 34 games. From 2016-2018, he played 117 games a season, averaging 8 home runs a year with a .702 OPS. But, the man they call “Silver Fox” was a big veteran presence and mentor in the clubhouse. The young Dodgers players looked up to him and watched him closely on how he went about his business. Though he wasn’t the same player on the field, he played a crucial role for the players off of it. In his final two years with Los Angeles, they would make two World Series appearances in 2017 and 2018, losing to the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox in successive years. He retired after the 2018 season, and the Phillies held an official retirement ceremony for Utley in June of 2019.
What to expect for Utley on this year’s ballot
2024 was Chase Utley’s first time on the Hall of Fame ballot, and he fared very well in his debut. He garnered 28.8%, more than his former middle infield partner Jimmy Rollins would gather in his third year (14.8%) on the same ballot. The last second baseman to get into Cooperstown was Craig Biggio in 2015. It took him three tries to be enshrined, going from 68 percent in his first year, 74.8% in his second, and being enshrined with 82.7% in his third year. Biggio wasn’t a surprise with getting in fairly early in his time on the ballot, as he was a beloved player who had the milestones that give you a good chance to get in the Hall like 3000+ hits and 500+ doubles. Chase doesn’t have those, but his advanced metrics seem to be a good case why he could eventually be elected. Here’s what some of those numbers look like, according to Baseball Reference:
Chase Utley:
64.5 career WAR | 49.3 7yr-peak WAR | 56.9 JAWS | 5.4 WAR/162
Average HOF 2B (out of 20):
69.5 career WAR | 44.4 7yr-peak WAR | 57.0 JAWS | 5.1 WAR/162
Solid case for Utley here, as yes, these stats are related to WAR, but a metric more and more voters have used as sabermetrics have become more accepted in today’s age. I don’t think we see Utley get in this time around, but it will be intriguing to see how much progress he makes for the coming years.