26 stats about number 26 for 2026
Some Chase Utley facts to start your year off right
Chase Utley looks like a lock for the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
65.5% of the 110 Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) members who already submitted a public HoF ballot this year voted to send Utley to Cooperstown. Over 400 ballots are expected in all, but our sample size is big enough to know that the Phillies legend will end up somewhere close to the 75% needed for induction. And he’ll have seven more years to reach that magic threshold.
Don’t believe Utley deserves baseball’s greatest honor? Here are 26 reasons why you’re wrong.
1 - Career OPS: .823
Utley’s .823 career OPS is higher than all but six of the 19 Hall of Fame players who played at least 60% of their games at second base. (Our sample includes Jeff Kent, elected to the Hall in December by a veterans’ committee.)
2 - OPS over .900 five times
“The Man” posted an OPS over .900 in five separate seasons, a feat matched by just three other second basemen, all of whom are in the Hall of Fame (Rogers Hornsby, Charlie Gehringer, and Eddie Collins).
Just three additional second basemen have posted an OPS over .900 in four separate seasons. Two of them (Jackie Robinson and Roberto Alomar) are in the Hall and the third is nine-time all-star and 2017 AL MVP winner Jose Altuve.
3 - Hates the Mets
Self-explanatory.
4 - Career bWAR: 64.5
Utley accumulated 64.5 bWAR in his career, which would place him in the top ten among Hall of Fame second basemen (near Ryne Sandberg, Alomar, and Craig Biggio).
5 - The 9.0 bWAR rule (invented by me)
Eight second basemen in the history of baseball reached 9.0 bWAR in one season. Seven of them are in the Hall of Fame. The eighth is Chase Utley (2008).
6 - Best of his era besides Pujols at any position?
For the years 2005 through 2014, Utley’s 59.7 bWAR ranks second only to surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer Albert Pujols.
7 - 259 home runs
Only five of the 19 Hall of Fame second basemen hit more career home runs than Utley (259).
8 - A World F’ing Champion
Did you know Utley and the Phillies won the 2008 World Series?
9 - Hates Mets Fans
Self-explanatory.
10 - Arguably the best base thief of all time
Utley’s career stolen base success rate is 87.5%. That’s the highest figure in major league baseball history among players with at least 150 stolen bases.
11 - Arguably the best World Series home run hitter of all time
Utley hit two home runs in the 2008 World Series and a record-tying five home runs in the 2009 World Series. Only nine players in the history of baseball have more World Series home runs than Utley, and eight of those nine are in the Hall of Fame.
Additionally, Utley’s World Series HR/AB ratio is the best in history for a player with at least five dingers. He hit one home run per 6.43 World Series at-bats.
12 - Once did this:
13 - WAR7 says he should be in
WAR7 sums the seven best WAR seasons of a player’s career. (The seasons need not be consecutive.)
The average Hall of Fame second baseman has a WAR7 equal to 44.1.
Chase Utley has a WAR7 equal to 49.3.
14 - JAWS says he should be in
JAWS is a statistic that combines career and 7-year peak WAR figures to help determine whether a player deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.
The average Hall of Fame second baseman has a career JAWS equal to 56.6.
Chase Utley has a career JAWS equal to 56.9.
15 - Four straight 100-RBI seasons
Tired of all this WAR talk? Want an old-school stat?
Utley drove in 100 runs in four consecutive seasons (2005-2009), joining Hall of Famers Gehringer (1932-1936) and Jeff Kent (1997-2002) as the only second basemen to do so.
16 - Led the majors in Hit-by-Pitch three times
For three consecutive years (2007-2009), pitchers hit Utley more than any other player in the majors. His 28 HBP in 2008 is a Phillies single-season franchise record. In his career, he was hit by over 200 pitches.
Sure, HBP is not generally a Hall of Fame type of stat. But in Utley’s case, it’s indicative of the way he played the game. He would do anything for his team to win, even if it meant throwing his body into a fastball.
We’ll consider it part of his intangibles.
17 - Set a record in 2009 with 23 stolen bases in 23 attempts
Utley went 23-for-23 in stolen base attempts in 2009, which set a record at the time for the most SB in one season without getting caught. Two players have since topped Utley’s mark: Byron Buxton (24-for-24 in 2025) and Trea Turner (30-for-30 in 2023).
18 - Tied for the all-time second baseman hitting streak record
Utley is tied for the longest hitting streak in MLB history among second basemen (35 consecutive games in 2006).
19 - Hardware
Though he never won an MVP award, Utley was a six-time All Star and a four-time Silver Slugger.
20 - Defense
He probably should have won a few Gold Gloves as well, but Utley’s tremendous defense was more about range and positioning than web gems. (He did have his fair share of the latter, of course.) Newer defensive metrics such as “Defensive Runs Saved” and “Outs Above Average” indicate that Utley was superb defensively.
21 - Obligatory Dodgers stat
Utley will undoubtedly sport a Phillies cap in his Hall of Fame plaque. But he did end his career with the Dodgers—sigh—and we can use some votes from West Coast writers.
So here goes: Utley made 565 plate appearances for Los Angeles in 2016 without grounding into a double play, breaking the Dodgers’ franchise record for most PA in one season with no GIDP.
22 - One of the best World Series players of all time
Among all players with 50 or more World Series plate appearances, Utley is 14th in MLB history with an OPS of 1.046. The Man played his best when the lights were brightest.
23 - First major league hit was a grand slam
Utley’s first major league hit (April 4, 2003 at Veterans Stadium) was a grand slam. This may not help his Hall of Fame case, but certainly adds to his legend.
24 - Once did this:
25 - Second-longest postseason on-base streak
Utley reached base in 27 consecutive postseason games between 2007 and 2011, breaking Boog Powell’s MLB record of 25 games (1966-1971).
Miguel Cabrera later broke Utley’s record with a 31-game streak (2011-2013).
26 - Gives a hell of a championship parade speech.
If you know, you know.
I consider myself a tough grader for the hof ! Originally I was a no on Utley , but became convinced ! Thanks for adding the Mets hate too John lmao! Let’s get 11 & 26 in the hall