Kent & Utley - A Quick Comparison

2B Jeff Kent retired today. Most consider Kent to be an easy Hall of Fame pick and rightfully so. He managed to play 2B to the ripe age of 40 and put up some pretty impressive numbers while doing so. He won an MVP and was a key piece on several teams in his career. A closer look at his stats shows that he and the Phillies own Chase Utley compare favorably. Both broke into the league at Age 24. Both hit .239 in their rookie season. Both are/were middle of the lineup threats that terrified opposing pitchers. A quick glance at the numbers show that up to Age 29, Utley has been the superior player in almost all respects. Kent didn't really enter his prime until his breakout Age 29 season where he finally cracked the 100 RBI mark for the first time. He subsequently knocked in over 100 runs 8 times in the next 9 seasons, just missing 100 RBIs in an injury-shortened 2003 season at Age 35. Utley on the other hand just turned 30 this off-season and has already compiled 4 100 RBI seasons while posting an OPS+ at or over 125 all 4 years. As of Age 29, Utley is clearly the superior player. If you look at other career indicators, Utley usually comes out ahead:

Career AVG:

Utley - .298
Kent - .290

Career OBP:

Utley - .375
Kent - .356

Career SLG:

Utley - .526
Kent - .500

Career OPS+

Utley - 128
Kent - 123

Utley is also clearly more of a threat on the basepaths with a far better SB%. In 17 seasons, Kent has been in 5 All-Star games while Utley has managed to make 3 All-Star teams in his first 5 full seasons. Kent is a 4-time Silver Slugger while Utley already has 3 such awards. If Utley is able to come close to replicating Jeff Kent's success after Age 30, he will clearly be a 1st Ballot Hall of Famer and one of the top 2B of all time. So far, as of Age 29, Utley has been the far superior player. The next several seasons should be interesting to see if he can continue his success deept into his 30s like Kent has been able to do.