Former Chicago Cubs Pitcher First-Year Eligible for Hall of Fame Next Year

A former Chicago Cubs pitcher will be eligible for the Hall of Fame for the first time in 2026.

Sep 28, 2019; St. Louis, MO, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Cole Hamels (35) pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals during the second inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-Imagn Images | Joe Puetz-Imagn Images

A new trio of Hall of Fame inductees has been announced, and while none of the three ever played for the Chicago Cubs, they all certainly have an ample amount of experience playing against the Cubs.

Ichiro Suzuki, Billy Wagner, and CC Sabathia are the most recent Hall of Fame inductees, with Greg Maddux remaining as the most recent Hall of Famer for the North Siders.

A new crop of talent is slated to be first-year eligible next year, and while it is one of the weaker incoming classes in quite some time, there is one that stands out above the rest in former ace Cole Hamels.

While the most exciting part of his career came with the Philadelphia Phillies where he helped lead them to their 2008 World Series Championship, the lefty did have a solid two-year stint with Chicago late in his career.

The Cubs acquired Hamels in a trade with the Texas Rangers ahead of the 2018 MLB trade deadline for a Player to Be Named Later, who would turn into Alexander Ovalles, a fielder who has still yet to reach the Majors.

Hamels would go on to make 39 starts for Chicago, pitching to a 3.30 ERA across 218 innings with 217 strikeouts and a 131 ERA+. It would serve as the best stretch in the tail end of his career, as his last Major League start would come in 2020 with the Atlanta Braves.

For his career, Hamels pitched to a 3.43 ERA across 2,698 innings in 432 games with 2,560 strikeouts and a 123 ERA+. He was a four-time All-Star and finished in the top ten for Cy Young voting four times in his career.

While the veteran will forever be remembered more for his time in Philadelphia and the World Series trophy he helped them secure, his time with the Cubs, while short-lived, was nothing short of fantastic for a pitcher in his mid-30s.

The incoming talent to the Hall of Fame ballot in 2026 is weaker than most, but Cole Hamels easily stands head and shoulders above the rest and could serve as the lone inductee from that group.