Six former Phillies eligible for 2021 Hall of Fame honors

5. A.J. Burnett, 1st year eligible

Right-handed starting pitcher A.J. Burnett was hardly a Phillie throughout his 17-season career; if it were up to him, he probably would wish to erase his statistics from the one year spent in red pinstripes during the 2014 season to improve his Hall of Fame chances.

Signing with the Phillies on a one-year deal through free agency, Burnett yielded the most losses in the majors that season (18), the most earned runs allowed (109), and the most walks allowed (96). Through 34 starts, albeit also a majors-best mark, he went 8-18 with a 4.59 ERA.

Erase Burnett’s year with the Phillies who seemingly had no direction or chances of a postseason appearance, and his career record and ERA would be 156-139 and 3.94, respectively — rather than 164-157 and 3.99.

Burnett began his career with the Florida Marlins (1999-2005), and later the Toronto Blue Jays (2006-08) alongside future Hall of Fame pitcher and Phillie, Roy Halladay. Then began a three-year stint with the New York Yankees, the first of which resulted in his only career World Series championship — coincidentally coming opposite the Phillies in 2009, under manager Joe Girardi. In two starts during the Fall Classic, Burnett went 1-1 with a 7.00 ERA.

Before and after his 2014 showing with the Phils, Burnett pitched a combined three seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates. His last season in the majors, 2015 with the Pirates, yielded him his first and only All-Star nod; that year, he went 9-7 with a 3.18 ERA through 26 starts.

4. Bobby Abreu, 2nd year eligible

Bobby Abreu nearly became ineligible for Hall of Fame consideration, as he received only 5.5 percent of the baseball writers’ vote in 2020. Players must receive at least 5 percent to be considered in future years.

Nonetheless, writers continue to argue the case for the 18-year veteran to earn the nod; he would need a 69.5-percent-vote improvement to get there in 2021, however. Consider this stat from Ryan Spaeder: Abreu reached base safely 24 more times than Tony Gwynn did in his career — albeit having 151 fewer plate appearances.

Abreu played in parts of nine seasons with the Phillies from 1998 to 2006, and was invited for a 10th in 2014 spring training; he would eventually be released and play 78 games for the New York Mets that year, his last in the majors.

While donning red pinstripes, Abreu slashed .303/.416/.513 with 348 doubles, 42 triples, 195 home runs, 814 RBI, 254 stolen bases, and 947 walks, coupled with just 1,078 strikeouts across 5,885 plate appearances.

Two two-time All-Star, one-time Gold Glove Award winner, and one-time Silver Slugger Award winner also played for the New York Yankees (2006-08), Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2009-12), and Los Angeles Dodgers (2012).

In 2019, the Phillies inducted Abreu into their Wall of Fame; his career highlights include becoming the first Phillie to win the Home Run Derby (2005), as well as the first player to hit a regular season home run in Citizens Bank Park history (April 12, 2014, against the Cincinnati Reds).

3. Scott Rolen, 4th year eligible

Seventeen-year veteran Scott Rolen received 35.3 percent of the vote in 2020, and would need a near-40-percent increase to enter the Hall of Fame in his fourth year of eligibility in 2021.

Rolen began his career with the Phillies from 1996 to 2002, before being dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals as part of the deal that brought Placido Polanco to Philadelphia.

The Indiana native was regarded as the club’s best third baseman since Mike Schmidt, and rightfully so. Spanning 844 games in red pinstripes, he slashed .282/.373/.504 with 207 doubles, 150 home runs, 559 RBI, 71 stolen bases, and 426 walks.

In 1997, Rolen received Rookie of the Year honors after logging 21 home runs and 92 RBI across 156 games. He would also earn several Gold Gloves as a Phillie before being dealt to the National League Central division.

In just his fourth full season with the Cardinals, Rolen notched his only career World Series championship; during that 2006 season, the third baseman earned his seventh of eight career Gold Gloves, as well as fifth of seven career All-Star nods. He hit an impressive .421/.476/.737 in the Fall Classic against the Detroit Tigers, but fell short of MVP honors to David Eckstein. Rolen faced the Phillies in the 2010 NLDS, and logged just one hit and struck out eight times across 11 plate appearances.

Rolen played in St. Louis through 2007; he would also play for the Toronto Blue Jays (2008-09), and Cincinnati Reds (2009-12) to finish out his successful career that had a combined 316 home runs and 1,287 RBI.

2. Billy Wagner, 6th year eligible

Billy Wagner is sometimes forgotten in Phillies history, as he was the team’s closer nearly leading up to Brad Lidge and his perfect 2008 season that ended with a parade down Broad Street. Coincidentally, the team acquired the hard-throwing left-hander via trade from the Houston Astros following the 2003 season, just as they would do with Lidge a few years later.

Looking back, Wagner only played two seasons in red pinstripes across his 16-season career, 2004 and 2005. Combined, he went 8-3 with a 1.86 ERA and 59 saves, all the while striking out 146 batters and walking just 26 through 126 innings.

Wagner also blew only seven saves combined between 2004-05, which compared to 2020 Phillies bullpen numbers, seems Hall of Fame-worthy in it of itself; he received 31.7 percent of the vote in 2020, and has five years left of eligibility to reach the 75 percent mark.

Overall in his career, Wagner recorded 422 saves, which ranks as the sixth-most all-time, trailing only Mariano Rivera (652), Trevor Hoffman (601), Lee Smith (478), Francisco Rodriguez (437), and John Franco (424).

His seven career All-Star appearances are more than the average relief pitcher garners; the Virginia native even received Cy Young Award and MVP consideration twice each, including 1999 when he went 4-1 with a 1.57 ERA, 0.777 WHIP, and recorded 39 saves while blowing just three for the Astros.

In his career, Wagner appeared for the Astros (1995-2003), Phillies (2004-05), New York Mets (2006-09), Boston Red Sox (2009), and Atlanta Braves (2010).

1. Curt Schilling, 9th year eligible

Twenty-year veteran Curt Schilling appears to be the most likely of these six former Phillies to reach the Hall of Fame in 2021.

Schilling has two years left of eligibility, with 2021 marking his ninth on the Hall of Fame ballot. The former left-hander garnered 70 percent of the baseball writers’ vote in 2020, five points shy of the necessary 75 percent. Derek Jeter (99.7 percent) and Larry Walker (76.6 percent) were the only two who reached the three-quarter mark.

The Alaska native seems poised to become the first former Phillie since Roy Halladay to be forever enshrined in Cooperstown.

Similar to Billy Wagner, Schilling came to the Phillies after a stint with the Houston Astros. From parts of nine seasons with the Phillies, from 1992 to 2000, the right-hander went 101-78 with a 3.35 ERA and 1.120 WHIP across 242 games and 226 starts. Schilling ranks seventh in Phillies history in wins, fifth in WAR for pitchers (36.8), and fifth in strikeouts (1,554), among ranking in other categories.

And, like Scott Rolen, Schilling found postseason success following his playing days in red pinstripes. After falling in the 1993 World Series to the Toronto Blue Jays, Schilling would go on to win each of his next three World Series appearances in 2001 with the Arizona Diamondbacks, as well as in 2004 and 2007 with the Boston Red Sox.

Schilling was named World Series MVP in 2001, going 1-0 with a 1.69 ERA and 0.656 WHIP across three starts opposite the potent New York Yankees lineup. Schilling finished his career going 216-146 with a 3.46 ERA, garnering six All-Star nods.