Three NL East stars from the 2000s are making their case for baseball immortality, but their paths to Cooperstown aren’t looking easy.
Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and David Wright – all familiar faces to baseball fans – are back on the Hall of Fame ballot for 2025. Their voting numbers so far tell an interesting story.
Utley grabbed a decent 28.8% in his first try last year. Rollins has slowly climbed from 9.4% to 14.8% over three years. Wright barely stayed on the ballot with 6.2% in his debut.
Let’s start with Utley. He was something special at second base, even if he got a late start. Once he finally became a full-time starter at 26, he went on an incredible five-year tear that puts him in elite company.
Here’s how special that run was: Only six second basemen in baseball history have put up five seasons with at least 7 WAR. Most of them played before World War II. Just Utley and Joe Morgan did it in modern baseball.
His career numbers are solid: .275 average, 259 homers, and nearly 1,900 hits over 16 seasons. Sure, he didn’t reach 2,000 hits, but his peak years were so amazing that it might not matter.
The stats guys love him too. He ranks 12th all-time among second basemen in JAWS (a stat that measures Hall of Fame worthiness). That puts him right where he needs to be for Cooperstown.
Jimmy Rollins brings a different case to the table. He’s got the hardware – MVP award, World Series ring, Gold Gloves – and some eye-popping numbers from his peak years.
Remember 2007? Rollins played every single game that year, racking up 212 hits, 30 homers, and 41 stolen bases. That’s the kind of season that gets people talking.
He finished with impressive career totals: 2,455 hits, 470 steals, and over 1,400 runs. But his batting average (.264) and OPS+ (95) might hurt his chances.
Then there’s David Wright. Man, what could have been.
Through age 30, Wright was on a Hall of Fame track: .301 average, 222 homers, and great all-around numbers. He was the face of the Mets and one of baseball’s brightest stars.
But back problems changed everything. He only played 1,585 games total, finishing with numbers that just don’t quite reach Hall of Fame standards.
It’s a familiar baseball story – injuries cutting short what could’ve been an all-time great career. Wright joins players like Don Mattingly and Johan Santana in baseball’s “what-if” club.
Looking ahead, Utley seems to have the best shot at Cooperstown. Rollins might need a big surge in support. And Wright? He’ll probably have to be content with being remembered as one of the Mets’ all-time greats.
