On Tuesday evening, Major League Baseball will announce the complete class of the 2026 Hall of Fame.
After learning that former second baseman Jeff Kent would be inducted during the Winter Meetings, we will now learn who will join Kent on the stage in Cooperstown this summer.
Players are eligible to be nominated to the Hall of Fame ballot if they played for over 10 years in the big leagues and must wait five calendar years after their last game.
Voters from the BBWAA, or Baseball Writers Association of America, are the ones who submit ballots for this nomination. If a player finishes with less than five percent of the total amount of votes, they are removed from the ballot permanently.
Hall of Fame players must receive at least 75% of the vote to be enshrined with the other greats of baseball history.
The Philadelphia Phillies have four former players who are on the ballot in 2026. Courtesy of Ryan Thibodaux, who tracks public ballots each year heading into the final voting, we can estimate where each former Phillie might end up after voting is complete.
Former Phillies right fielder Bobby Abreu enters the Hall of Fame ballot for the seventh time.
Abreu spent nine seasons with the Phillies from 1998 to 2005. He was the best player on his teams, a lone bright spot during a dark period of baseball in Philadelphia.
From 1998 to 2014, Abreu was the second-best right fielder in baseball, according to FanGraph's fWar metric. He accumulated 59.7 fWar, second to only Manny Ramirez with 62.3. Among every outfielder to ever play the game, Abreu currently sits 54th in fWar ranking.
The veteran outfielder had the third most hits during this time (2470). He led all right fielders in doubles (574) and runs scored (1453). His 400 career stolen bases ranked second in this era, trailing only Ichiro Suzuki (487).
After finishing last year with just 19.5% of the vote, it appears that the former Phillie is a long shot for the Hall of Fame at this stage. Abreu has seen a nice increase in votes this year among those who publicly announce their votes. Heading into Tuesday's announcement, he will carry 40.3% of the vote.
Entering his fifth year on the ballot, Jimmy Rollins needs to have a strong showing.
The longtime Phillies shortstop finished with 18 percent of the vote just one year ago and is hopeful to break into the 20s in 2026. According to the tracker, he has gained 12 public votes already in this cycle. Once the final tallies are marked on Tuesday evening, we will get a better understanding of the number of anonymous supporters for Rollins' bid.
Over the course of his big league career, Rollins finished with the third highest fWar (49.7). He finished behind Alex Rodriguez (88.1) and Derek Jeter (53.6). His four gold gloves highlight a tremendous defensive ability. Rollins had the second-highest defensive rating over the span of his career, finishing behind only J.J. Hardy with a 139.8 score.
Rollins finished his career with 2,455 hits (15th all-time), 470 stolen bases (11th all-time), 231 home runs (12th all-time) and 115 triples (12th all-time). His unique combination of defense, speed, and power is more than deserving of this nomination.
We may very well be one year away from learning that Chase Utley has made the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.
"The Man" currently has a 69.6% voting percentage based on the public ballots shared by baseball writers. While the number is likely to decrease slightly with the anonymous ballots releasing, Utley is well on his way to the hall.
The former World Series champion finished his second time on the ballot with 39.8% of the final vote. This jump for the left-handed hitting second baseman forecasts that it is a matter of when, not if, he gets his name called.
Unless he gets a huge surge from private voters, I believe Utley will have to wait until 2027 to enter Cooperstown.
From 2003 to 2018, Utley finished with the highest fWar total among second basemen with 61.5. He was fourth in hits (1,885), second in doubles (411), third in home runs (259) and second in runs batted in (1,025).
The six-time All-Star was arguably the best second baseman in the game during his era and will likely find himself enshrined with the best to ever play the game.
The final former Phillie on this year's ballot is Cole Hamels, who is eligible for the first time.
"Hollywood" spent 15 seasons in the big leagues, including 10 in the city of Philadelphia. The former World Series MVP is also a four-time All-Star, including one appearance with the Texas Rangers in 2016.
Hamels was one of the better pitchers of his era. Playing from 2006 to 2020, the southpaw finished with the sixth-highest fWar among pitchers with 51.6. He started the third most games (422), pitched the third most innings (2,698) and struck out the third most batters (2,560). Hamels currently sits with the 84th highest fWar among all pitchers in baseball history.
Among the public voters, Hamels is riding a 31.9% tally at this stage. Again, once the private ballots are counted, that number is expected to decrease slightly. The left-hander is still putting up an impressive showing in his first year. It will be important to see how he finishes. If Hamels can continue to garner support, he might be building a strong call to the Hall of Fame.
