Chipper Jones is on his way to becoming a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
With 214 ballots in and roughly 50 percent of the votes known, Jones sits at 98.6 percent.
Jones’ near 100-percent return is best among eligible players, above Vladimir Guerrero’s 94 percent and Jim Thome’s current 93 percent. A player needs 75 percent of the vote to gain induction, virtually guaranteeing Jones is ticketed for Cooperstown in 2018.
MLB will announce its Hall of Fame inductees today at 6 p.m. on MLB Network.
Jones appears likely to fall shy of Ken Griffey Jr.’s voting record. Griffey earned 99.32 percent of the vote in 2016. He missed just three votes, besting Tom Seaver only missing five in 1992.
With several Braves entering the Hall in recent years, Jones could finish with the most votes. Greg Maddux is the current highest, polling 97.20 percent.
The numbers are provided by Ryan Thibodaux, who tracks every ballot.
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