Curt Schilling's vote total bounces back in 2018, Hall of Fame chances are on track

After a dip last year, Schilling's back on the right track

Curt Schilling didn't get into the Hall of Fame this time around, but the news was much better for the long-time right-handed pitcher than it was during the last voting cycle. 

Thanks, at least in part, to Schilling tweeting that a shirt suggesting to lynch "the media" was "so much awesome," he lost support from some voters last year. His 52.3 percent figure from 2016 dipped to 45 percent. The news on Wednesday evening was that Schilling had gained back most of that lost support and now sits at 51.2 percent. 

This was Schilling's sixth year on the ballot, so he has four chances left. 

Further, four big names came off the ballot with this Hall of Fame announcement and only Mariano Rivera and Roy Halladay figure to leapfrog Schilling next year. 

Only Edgar Martinez (who only has one chance left) and Mike Mussina appear to be in line in front of Schilling, too, so it seems reasonable to believe that Schilling is going to get into the Hall, likely before his last chance. 

I know that Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds are ahead of Schilling on a percentage basis, but due to their PED ties, I think it's going to be harder for them to make significant gains moving forward. The further away Schilling gets from what he said was a joke back in 2016, the more it's going to become water under the bridge, my gut says. 

Schilling spent 20 years in the majors, going 216-146 with a 3.46 ERA (127 ERA+), 1.14 WHIP and 3,116 strikeouts against only 668 unintentional walks. He led the league in wins twice, complete games four times, innings twice, strikeouts twice, WHIP twice and strikeout-to-walk ratio five times. He finished second in Cy Young voting three times. Among modern pitchers with at least 3,000 innings, Schilling is the all-time leader in the strikeout-to-walk (4.38). 

I feel like this is Hall-worthy anyway -- and WAR and JAWS show he's above the average Hall of Fame starting pitcher -- but the postseason is where things go to the next level. In 133 1/3 postseason innings, Schilling went 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 120 strikeouts, four complete games and two shutouts. That's half of a regular-season Cy Young campaign. He won three rings, the 1993 NLCS MVP and the 2001 World Series co-MVP. 

The case says he should be in. The more the ballot clears out and Schilling doesn't again suggest lynching journalists, the more support his Hall of Fame case will gain. So long as he doesn't anger a decent percentage of Hall voters again, he likely earns induction in a few years.