Key Highlights
- They join Jeff Kent, who was elected by the contemporary baseball era committee in December. ESPN MLB experts Buster Olney, Bradford Doolittle, Jesse Rogers and Jorge Castillo break down what the 2026 election tells us and look ahead to the 2027 ballot and beyond. Besides those elected, who is the biggest winner on this year's ballot?Olney: Last year, Felix Hernandez polled at 20.6% of the vote in his first year on the ballot, and this year, he took a major step forward, to 46.1%, in what now appears to be a steady march toward election.
- There was a time when King Felix was in the conversation for best pitcher on the planet, winning the AL Cy Young Award in 2010, and it seems that his lack of gaudy accumulation stats -- he finished his career with 169 victories and 2,524 strikeouts -- are something voters will accept. Rogers: Chase Utley is headed in the right direction.
- His third time on the ballot produced enough of a leap -- from 39.8% to 59.1% -- to believe he'll get in sooner than later.
- His increase is similar to what Jones and Beltran experienced before they were elected.
- Add on the fact that Utley finished with the highest percentage of votes among those who did not get in this year -- meaning he could be next up.