Jim Thome looking like a lock for the 2018 Hall of Fame class

The results for Major League Baseball’s 2018 Hall of Fame class won’t be announced for another three weeks, but thanks to dedicated work of Ryan Thibodaux (@NotMrTibbs on Twitter), we have a general idea of who will be the next to have a bust in Cooperstown.

To this point, with approximately one third of the vote accounted for, Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, and Cleveland Indians great Jim Thome all look like locks to get in with more than 90 percent of the currently known ballots calling for them to be inducted. For Thome and Jones, getting in this year would make them first-ballot hall of famers, while Vlad would be getting in his second year.

There are still a lot of votes to be counted, obviously, but Thome only needs 64.7 percent of the remaining ballots to contain his name — I have a hard time imagining that many people being that wrong about Jim Thome’s greatness.

The other Indians player on this year’s ballot, Omar Vizquel, isn’t having quite the same success. He currently sits at 25.5 percent and would need 99.6 percent of the remaining ballots to have him checked. Our own Jason Lukehart already went into why Vizquel isn’t a hall of famer despite being such a great, memorable player — and voters seem to agree.

On a non-Indians front, Edgar Martinez is on the fringe of getting in, which is good news for anyone who enjoyed watching him be the best damn designated hitter the league had ever seen. He’s currently at 80.9 percent with 72.1 percent of the remaining ballot needing to have him checked for him to get in.

Official results for the 2018 MLB Hall of Fame class will be announced on January 24.