Baseball Hall of Fame Voters Suddenly Like Scott Rolen and Gary Sheffield Way More Than Last Year

Baseball's annual Hall of Fame ballot dump is never short on the occasionally bewildering surprise, and that narrative continues into 2020 concerning two former All-Stars.

Scott Rolen and Gary Sheffield, who didn't receive much love on the 2019 ballot, have already earned an eye-opening increase in votes this year. Through 119 ballots (28.9% of the total vote) that are publicly available, Rolen and Sheffield both collected at least 30 more votes than at this same point a year ago, noticeably more than all other players.

That's surprising -- especially considering that we already declared we're stanning for Larry Walker -- and we're honestly not sure what inspired the such changes of heart among voters.

Out of the two players, Rolen's resume is more imposing top to bottom, and almost makes him a no-brainer selection one day, even if it's not the near future. For starters, his career WAR of 70.2 ranks ninth among third basemen in the history of the sport.

Despite that, Rolen only received 10.2% of votes in his first year of eligibility and 17.2% last January.

Sheffield, on the other hand, was one of the game's most feared sluggers. His prime featured a 15-season run that saw him slash .304/.411/.551 and log a mind-boggling 153 OPS+. Over 22 total seasons, he clubbed a whopping 509 home runs.

Of course, his alleged but unproven links to performance-enhancing drugs has left him unpopular in the eyes of plenty of voters across his first several years of eligibility. This year, however, appears to be a different story, and we'll certainly be keeping tabs on the potential continued surge of Rolen and Sheff.