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Former Blue Jays on the 2022 Hall of Fame Ballot and where they stand

By Tyson Shushkewich

Toronto Blue Jays' starting pitcher Roger Clemens, who gave up nine runs to the New York Yankees the last time they played, gave up three hits and one run through seven innings at Yankee Stadium in New York 27 April. AFP PHOTO Henny Ray ABRAMS (Photo by HENNY RAY ABRAMS / AFP) (Photo by HENNY RAY ABRAMS/AFP via Getty Images)
Toronto Blue Jays' starting pitcher Roger Clemens, who gave up nine runs to the New York Yankees the last time they played, gave up three hits and one run through seven innings at Yankee Stadium in New York 27 April. AFP PHOTO Henny Ray ABRAMS (Photo by HENNY RAY ABRAMS / AFP) (Photo by HENNY RAY ABRAMS/AFP via Getty Images) /
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ST PETERSBURG, FL – OCTOBER 4: Mark Buehrle #56 of the Toronto Blue Jays pitches during the first inning of game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays at Tropicana Field on October 4, 2015 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Scott Iskowitz/Getty Images) /

Jeff Kent

Drafted by the Blue Jays in the 20th round of the 1989 MLB Draft, infielder Jeff Kent only spent half of one season on the organization’s active roster before being shipped to the New York Mets at the 1992 trade deadline. Kent and a player to be named later would be dealt to the Mets in exchange for pitcher David Cone, who would go on to help the club win its first World Series in franchise history.

Kent on the other hand would go on to play 17 years in the Majors split between six different organizations. He would finish his career with a .290/.356/.500 slash line with 377 home runs, 1518 RBI, and a .855 OPS through 8498 at-bats. Kent was a four-time Silver Slugger as well as a five-time All-Star, capturing the MVP Award in 2000 as a member of the Giants where he posted a 1.021 OPS through 159 games.

This is Kent’s ninth year on the Hall of Fame ballot and he has slowly started to gain some traction in the final years. He currently has 52 votes to his name and sits at 30.6% and cannot mathematically be inducted this year. Next year will be his last chance on the ballot before having to wait for the ERA committees to consider him for Cooperstown.

Mark Buehrle

Acquired from the Miami Marlins as part of the blockbuster 2012 trade, southpaw Mark Buehrle was known for his ability to pitch deep into ball games and his precision command on the mound. While his arsenal didn’t light up the radar and the strikeout total was never near the top of the leaderboards, Buehrle was able to pitch around the strike zone and get hitters to chase and get weak contact, all under 20 seconds per pitch.

As a member of the Blue Jays, Buehrle pitched to a 3.74 ERA through 91 starts. A workhorse on the mound, the Missouri product went 200+ innings for 14 seasons in a row, falling just shy of the 200 mark in 2015 when he was unable to escape the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays in the last game of the season (198.2 innings). This is an incredible feat for a pitcher and one that should not go unnoticed. Overall, the left-hander finished his career with a 3.81 ERA through 518 appearances with a 1.281 WHIP, 5.1 K/9, and 2.0 BB/9 through 3282.1 innings pitched. He called it a career after being left off the Jays postseason roster in 2015.

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Buehrle is currently in his second year on the HOF ballot and has only mustered nine votes so far in 2022. He will need to be careful if he wants to remain on the ballot moving forward, as he needs to remain above 5% to continue being included for Hall of Fame consideration. In order for that to happen, he needs to be on 11 more ballots once the final results are revealed on the 25th.

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