Which Philadelphia Phillies Legend Has Stronger Hall of Fame Case?

Former Philadelphia Phillies stars Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins both have compelling cases for Cooperstown.

Jul 25, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins (11) and second baseman Chase Utley (26) high-five each other at the conclusion of a game. / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

For 13 seasons, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley shared an infield together. Now, they're on a Hall of Fame ballot together.

It's a fitting honor for the former double-play partners, who both starred for the Philadelphia Phillies from 2003 to 2015 before both were traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Along with former NL MVP Ryan Howard, they comprised one of the best infields in baseball during the late 2000s and early 2010s, leading the Phillies to five straight division titles, two pennants and a World Series title from 2007 to 2011.

With Rollins at shortstop and Utley at second base, they were one of the sport's best double-play tandems for over a decade, combining for nine All-Star appearances, five Silver Sluggers, four Gold Gloves and an MVP award.

Their careers were similar, with Rollins playing 17 seasons and Utley logging 16. They were both tremendous all-around players as well, wowing fans with their hitting, speed and defense.

While they were often compared during their playing days, their Hall of Fame cases are comparable as well.

It’s a privilege to be a Hall of Fame voter. Here’s my ballot, which I always make public (but don’t debate). pic.twitter.com/sPhSh16QSu

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On one hand, Rollins has a more traditional case than Utley. Rollins stayed healthier, batted leadoff and walked loss, so he played in over 300 more games than Utley and accumulated nearly 2,400 additional plate appearances.

Accordingly, many of Rollins' counting stats are stronger. For instance, he has 560 more hits and 318 more runs.

Rollins was also a better baserunner, stealing three times as many bases as Utley and legging out twice as many triples.

That said, Utley was the superior hitter. He hit for a better average, walked more and hit for more power, producing an OPS that was 80 points higher. He also hit more homers and drove in more runs in far fewer plate appearances.

Both players were above-average fielders, but the metrics prefer Utley, crediting him with three times as many fielding runs.

Rollins had more longevity and more hardware. When both players were at their best, however, Utley was better.

Utley was a more complete ballplayer, and he gets a big boost from analytics. Baseball-Reference gives him 64.5 WAR, which is in line with other Hall of Fame second basemen like Ryne Sandberg (67.9), Roberto Alomar (67.0) and Craig Biggio (65.5).

Rollins, on the other hand, had 47.6 WAR despite playing roughly two more seasons worth of games than Utley.

That disparity has been reflected in the Hall of Fame voting so far.

Rollins debuted on the ballot with with 9.4% of the vote in late 2021. He improved to 14.8% last year but got only half as many votes as Utley, who received 28.8% of the vote in his first year on the ballot.

The gap is telling. While Rollins looks like a long shot to get into Cooperstown on the BBWAA ballot, Utley has a realistic chance if he makes significant progress on the next few ballots.

While Utley may have been underappreciated during his playing days, that no longer seems to be the case.