HOUSTON (CBS HOUSTON) – The most prolific power hitter in the history of the Astros will find out today if he will join his friend and longtime teammate Craig Biggio in Cooperstown.

Jeff Bagwell, at the time of writing, sits below 80 percent of the published ballots by hall of fame voters.

The BBHOF Tracker is run by Ryan Thibodaux, who goes by @NotMrTibbs on Twitter. Here he compiles the all the public votes from the members of the BBWA who cast their ballot.

Bagwell, who finished last year with 55.7 percent of the votes, will need an almost 20 percent increase to get to the required 75 percent for entrance this summer. It is his sixth year on the ballot.

Last year he was tracking on 60.5 percent of the public ballots. Combining this with his actual tally last year, we can estimate something in the realm of a five percent adjustment down on Bagwell when comparing public votes to actual votes. This year he has seen his numbers jump significantly.

This year he has seen his numbers jump significantly, but his hopes are declining down the stretch.

As the above tweet displays, Bagwell has been trending down as more and more ballots have been released. Adjusting for the five percent difference mentioned above he may miss out on the hall this year.

He has a saving grace, though. As more writers have found room for Bagwell on their ballots publicly, it would seem, even with his difference in published and unpublished ballots, he is a hot commodity for voters.

Reasonable thinking is if he increased this much in the public votes, he could have some increase in the voters who aren’t making their votes known.

He has impressive power numbers though his 449 home runs fall short of the “magic number” of 500. He was a Rookie of the Year and earned an MVP award but it came in the strike-shortened 1994 season. He boasts just one Gold Glove Award but wasn’t a negative in the field. A near .300 batting average for his career. Three-time Silver Slugger Award winner. Four-time All-Star.

Bagwell’s candidacy has taken a hit due to whispers of steroid usage. He has never been officially linked to any report, test, or a player who used performance-enhancing drugs. He did, however, call admitted steroid user Ken Caminiti a friend and even went on to deliver the eulogy at his funeral. Perhaps that relationship has tainted the image, despite Bagwell’s history of denials and outspoken stances against the drugs.

Today at 5 pm Bagwell will learn if he becomes the second member of the prestigious group to don an Astros hat on his bust.