Former UCLA Bruin Chase Utley won’t be headed to the Baseball Hall of Fame this summer. Despite not getting elected, Utley was still one of the winners of this year’s vote, with the longtime Philadelphia Phillie getting 59.1% of the votes.
It was Utley’s third year on the ballot, giving him seven more cracks to meet the needed 75% threshold to get to Cooperstown. In 2025 Utley got 39.8% of the votes after receiving 28.8% of the vote in his first year on the ballot back in 2024.
Utley’s 19.3% growth in vote this year is the 16th largest for the Baseball Hall of Fame since 1967. Utley wasn’t the only big climber this season, pitcher Felix Hernandez is now atop that list with a 25.56% climb this year.
Utley, the Pasadena native, was inducted into UCLA’s Hall of Fame in 2010. The infielder was deserving of the honor, being named to an All-American team in all three of his seasons (1998-2000) with the Bruins. USA TODAY writer Bob Nightengale sounded optimistic about Utley’s chances of getting elected in the coming years.
“Utley’s popularity has grown thanks in part to advanced metrics. His career WAR, according to Baseball Reference, is the 15th highest of all second basemen, and 10 of the top 14 have all been enshrined in Cooperstown,” Nightengale said. “Utley was always respected as a tenacious winning player, and was integral part of the Phillies’ glorious postseason run, but he still ended up with just 1,855 hits.”
The 2008 World Series champion and six-time All-Star slugged 259 career home runs with another 53 coming with UCLA before he was drafted in the first round by the Phillies.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: UCLA’s Chase Utley isn’t in Hall of Fame yet, but getting closer
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
