Chase Utley is set to take his place among Phillies greats tonight, and his induction into the Wall of Fame only sharpens the next question hanging over Citizens Bank Park: who’s next?
Utley will be the 51st player added to the Phillies Wall of Fame, with the ceremony set for Aug. 7 at 6:15 p.m. before the Phillies open against the defending American League champion Toronto Blue Jays at 6:40 p.m. The presentation will air on NBCSP as part of Alumni Weekend.
For Phillies fans, Utley’s case was never really in doubt. He spent 13 of his 16 big league seasons in Philadelphia and built a résumé that still reads like a clean, hard line drive through the middle of the franchise record book. He was a six-time All-Star, including five straight nods from 2006 to 2010, and won four consecutive National League Silver Slugger awards at second base from 2006 through 2009.
With the Phillies, Utley hit .282 with 233 home runs and 916 RBIs. He was a central piece of the 2008 World Series club and delivered in the National League Championship Series that year, batting .353 with six hits and three RBIs. The following season, he tied a World Series record with five homers in the series.
His Phillies run ended when he was traded in 2015 to the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he played his final four seasons. Last year, his double-play partner Jimmy Rollins was inducted into the Wall of Fame along with former team executive Ed Wade.
Utley’s full career numbers were strong across the board: a .275 average, 259 home runs and 1,025 RBIs. He never won an MVP award, but he finished in the top 15 in voting five times.
The Hall of Fame story, at least for now, ended differently. Utley fell short in 2026, receiving 59.1% of the ballots in his third year of eligibility.
Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones finished ahead of him and were elected. A player needs 75% for Cooperstown, and Utley still has seven years left to stay on the ballot as long as he keeps drawing at least 5%.
As for the Phillies Wall of Fame, the list of next candidates starts with two obvious names from the 2007-2011 run: Ryan Howard and Cole Hamels.
Howard was one of the defining bats of that era, a fearsome middle-of-the-order force whose career was altered by a left Achilles tendon injury in Game 5 of the 2011 National League Division Series. He finished with 382 home runs, 1,194 RBIs and an OPS of 859. From 2005 to 2011, he posted a 19.5 WAR, hit 286 homers and drove in 864 runs while winning the 2005 NL Rookie of the Year and 2006 NL MVP awards.
Hamels brings a different kind of case, but one with serious October weight. He was the 2008 NLCS and World Series MVP.
Against the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series, he started two games, won one and posted a 2.77 ERA with eight strikeouts. He debuted with the Phillies in 2006 and stayed until a 2015 trade to the Texas Rangers.
In Philadelphia, he compiled a 42 WAR, went 114-90 and struck out 1,844 batters, making three All-Star teams along the way.
Other names that could eventually come into play include Shane Victorino, Cliff Lee, Carlos Ruiz, Jamie Moyer, Jayson Werth, Brad Lidge, Ryan Madson and Jonathon Papelbon.
The Wall of Fame already has plenty of company for Utley, with Rollins the latest addition before tonight. The full group stretches from early franchise icons like Richie Ashburn, Robin Roberts and Chuck Klein to more recent honorees such as Roy Halladay, Pat Burrell, Charlie Manuel, Scott Rolen, Bake McBride, Ron Reed, David Montgomery and Ed Wade.
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