Three former Cincinnati Reds will get Hall of Fame votes in 2026 – Redleg Nation

The Hall of Fame voting for 2026 was announced Tuesday evening. Two men were chosen: Andruw Jones and Carlos Beltran. The latter marked his fourth year on the ballot, while the former collected enough votes to be elected in his ninth year. At the very bottom of the list you’ll find three former Cincinnati Reds – all in a row in terms of vote totals.

Among the former Reds players who received votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America were Edwin Encarnacion, Shin-Soo Choo and Matt Kemp. Encarnacion received six votes and led this group. Choo had half less than he received three votes. Kemp finished with two votes. None of the players received a large enough percentage of votes to remain on the ballot in the future. Players need at least 5% of the vote to stay on the ballot and Encarnacion received just 1.4% of the vote, while Choo and Kemp were under 1%. You can view the full voting results here.

Edwin Encarnacion joined the Reds in June 2001 when he joined Ruben Mateo from the Texas Rangers in a deal for Rob Bell.

Encarnacion struggled defensively at times, and in his first full season he led the league with 25 errors despite playing in just 111 games at third base. That was his worst season with the Reds on the defensive side in terms of mistakes, but some more advanced stats (and I caution against viewing defensive stats with a lot of skepticism, especially those from seasons before 2015) suggest he was worse overall in two other seasons. Any way you look at it, he was a very poor defender at third base. Cincinnati traded him to Toronto at the deadline in 2009 in a two-pitcher package for Scotto Rolen.

It didn’t happen right away, but after leaving Cincinnati, Encarnacion became one of the best power hitters in the game. From 2012-2019, he hit 297 home runs for Toronto, Cleveland, New York and Seattle. In 2020, he would end his career with the White Sox, adding another 10 home runs in 44 games that season. He finished with 424 home runs over parts of 16 seasons, hitting .260/.350/.496 along the way.

Shin-Soo Choo started his big league career with the Seattle Mariners in 2005 as a 22-year-old, but was traded to Cleveland the following year. He stayed with them through the 2012 season. After the year, he was traded to Cincinnati in a three-team deal that included nine players and a ton of money. Choo only spent one season with the Reds, but it was an All-Star caliber season (although his lone All-Star season came in 2018, which WAR actually ranked as his seventh-best season). Playing center almost every day, he hit .285/.423/.462 in 712 at-bats for the Reds while hitting 21 home runs, 34 doubles and two triples.

Choo would sign a long-term contract with Texas after the season and spend 2014-2020 with the Rangers before retiring. In a career that spanned parts of 16 seasons, he hit .275/.377/.447 with 218 home runs and 157 stolen bases. Among Major Leaguers, he is by far the best player from South Korea. His 34.7 WAR is by far the most and tops Hyun Jin Ryu and Chan Ho Park, who both ended their careers at 20 WAR. He has more than three times as many plate appearances as any other Korean-born player. His 1671 hits are almost four times as many as the next player. Choo has 218 home runs. Every other Korean-born player has 287 and no one individually has more than 67 (Jiman Choi). He is also the only Korean-born position player to ever make an All-Star team. Pitchers Byung-Hyun Kim, Chan Ho Park and Hyun Jin Ryu all made up one All-Star team.

Matt Kemp started his career in Los Angeles with the Dodgers. He played with them from 2006 to 2014 before joining the San Diego Padres. His time there was short-lived as he was traded to Atlanta. They then traded him to the Dodgers six months later. A year later, he was traded to Cincinnati in a seven-player deal.

After slashing .290/.338/.481 in 2018 and making the All-Star team, expectations were high for Kemp when he joined the Reds. Instead, he hit .200/.210/.283 and was released five weeks into the season. He would play in 43 games with the Rockies in 2020, where he hit better than he did with the Reds, but those 43 games in Colorado would be the last of his career. He would finish his career as a .284/.337/.484 hitter in parts of 15 seasons during which he hit 287 home runs and stole 184 bases.

And for fun and silliness, Nick Markakis got one vote. He was never a Reds player, but the club drafted him in 2001 and 2002. He opted not to sign in either case and continue his college career. Three years later he would make his big league debut and played parts of five years for Cincinnati. Hitting wasn’t a problem for the then infielder, as in his five seasons he hit .262/.345/.449 with 71 home runs.