Admittedly, Utley appears to be dealing with an uphill climb towards eventual enshrinement in Cooperstown, given he lacks a few of the counting stats and accolades towards which voters sometimes gravitate.
Utley, who performed for the Phillies and Dodgers, completed his 16-year profession with fewer than 2,000 hits, 300 homers and 200 stolen bases. He by no means positioned increased than seventh in his league’s MVP Award voting. And whereas he performed till he was 39 years previous, Utley didn’t do a lot of notice after his age-31 season, hitting .253 with 82 homers and a 101 OPS+ from ages 32-39.
And but, Utley nonetheless has a deserving case to ultimately be elected. Listed here are 5 causes Utley belongs among the many all-time greats within the Nationwide Baseball Corridor of Fame:
1. He was top-of-the-line gamers in baseball throughout his peakUtley’s Corridor of Fame candidacy would possibly hinge on how a lot inventory voters place in peak versus longevity. Whereas he didn’t break by means of as an on a regular basis participant with the Phillies till his age-26 season and steadily declined as he moved into his mid-30s, he was an elite performer throughout his prime.
From 2005-10, Utley earned 5 All-Star choices and hit .298 with 162 homers, 216 doubles, 572 RBIs, 90 steals, a .911 OPS and a 133 OPS+ over 869 video games.
In that span, Utley produced 45.5 bWAR, second solely to Albert Pujols (52.1) amongst MLB place gamers. He was greater than 7 WAR forward of Alex Rodriguez, who positioned third with 38.3 WAR, and greater than 21 WAR higher than the next-best second baseman, Brian Roberts (24.2).
Most bWAR amongst MLB place gamers, 2005-10:
With Utley taking part in a pivotal function, the Phillies went from a perennial also-ran to a Nationwide League powerhouse, successful 5 NL East titles, two NL pennants and a World Collection championship from 2007-11. Previous to that stretch, the Phils made the postseason solely as soon as (in 1993) from 1984-2006.
2. He compares properly to second basemen within the Corridor One other issue voters ought to think about when inspecting Utley’s Corridor of Fame credentials is how he stacks up traditionally in opposition to gamers at his place, particularly these already enshrined within the Corridor of Fame.
Utley’s profession WAR of 64.5 ranks fifteenth all time amongst second basemen, and solely 10 Corridor of Fame second basemen have superior marks. In the meantime, his seven-year peak WAR (his WAR complete in his seven greatest seasons, consecutive or nonconsecutive) of 49.3 ranks ninth.
The JAWS system, developed by baseball author Jay Jaffe to judge a participant’s Corridor of Fame worthiness by evaluating him to the Corridor of Famers at his place, takes each profession WAR and seven-year peak WAR into consideration. Utley’s JAWS determine of 56.9 is true in keeping with the common (57.0) of the second basemen already within the Corridor.
As Jaffe identified in his FanGraphs story breaking down Utley’s Corridor of Fame case, Utley was value 173 runs above common on the plate (per Baseball-Reference’s batting runs metric) throughout his profession, rating twentieth amongst second basemen and surpassing 9 Corridor of Famers on the place.
3. He was arguably extra beneficial than his MVP teammates Though Utley earned MVP votes yearly from 2005-09, he was by no means a number one contender, peaking at seventh on the poll in 2006. In the meantime, he noticed two teammates, Ryan Howard in 2006 and Jimmy Rollins in 2007, win the NL MVP Award.
Nevertheless, there’s a case to be made that Utley might have gained in both of these years. Whereas Howard hit .313 with 58 homers, 149 RBIs and a 1.084 OPS throughout his MVP marketing campaign, his poor protection at first base contributed to a WAR tally of 5.2 — 2.1 WAR worse than Utley (7.3).
When it comes to WAR, Utley additionally outperformed Rollins in 2007, 7.8 to six.1. Rollins did have Utley beat in video games performed, hits, homers and stolen bases, however Utley bested his teammate in batting common, on-base proportion and slugging proportion whereas posting an OPS (.976) that was 101 factors increased than Rollins’ .875 mark.
4. He was a robust defender, even with out awards to show it Utley’s Corridor of Fame case is just like that of Scott Rolen, who was elected to the Corridor final 12 months on his sixth poll.
Like Utley, Rolen’s offensive profile by itself may not have been Corridor of Fame worthy. However when mixed along with his all-world protection at third base, it was sufficient to get him throughout the end line.
Utley’s glove work wasn’t on the extent of Rolen’s traditionally, and he really by no means gained a Gold Glove Award, whereas Rolen gained eight. That mentioned, he was nonetheless a beneficial defensive participant at second base. The truth is, with 131 fielding runs above common, he ranks seventh all time amongst second basemen.
5. He excelled on the World Collection stageUtley appeared in three World Collection throughout his profession, together with back-to-back as a member of the Phillies from 2008-09.
Whereas Utley had solely 9 hits and a .200 batting common in these Fall Classics, he made his knocks depend. The second baseman went deep seven occasions in 15 World Collection video games, hitting a pair of dingers in Philadelphia’s five-game sequence win over the Rays in 2008 and 5 extra when the Phils misplaced to the Yankees within the 2009 Fall Traditional.
Utley is certainly one of solely three gamers (becoming a member of Reggie Jackson in 1977 and George Springer in 2017) to homer as many as 5 occasions in a single World Collection, and the one one to take action in a dropping effort.
Amongst gamers to amass no less than 50 profession plate appearances within the World Collection, Utley’s 1.046 OPS is the 14th greatest.
Utley additionally made one of many biggest defensive performs in current World Collection reminiscence in opposition to Tampa Bay in Sport 5 of the 2008 Fall Traditional. With two outs and Jason Bartlett on second base within the prime of the seventh inning, Utley ranged to his proper at second base to subject Akinori Iwamura’s floor ball. After backhanding the ball, Utley faked a throw to first base earlier than firing residence to nab Bartlett, who had continued operating slightly than stopping at third. Utley’s heads-up play saved the sport tied, and Philadelphia went on to take the lead within the backside of the body en path to a championship-clinching victory.
