Albert Pujols, Justin Upton swinging for the fences as they near MLB milestones

Tag Archive: Baseball, High Heat Stats, Sports

Category Archive: Sports

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Every week throughout the 2017 regular season, we’ll handpick impressive, embarrassing and peculiar feats for you to witness across Major League Baseball. The following MLB milestones could be achieved from May 15-21, so adjust your viewing schedule accordingly. All stats current entering games of May 15.

Albert Pujols (Los Angeles Angels): 600 career home runs

When it could happen: May 19-21 (vs. New York Mets)

Five players in just the past 15 years—Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez and Jim Thome—have joined the club, but that doesn’t diminish this moment for Pujols. Fans should to soak it all in, considering it might be another 15 years before anybody else reaches the mark. Although he’ll be celebrating No. 600 in a Angels uniform, the vast majority of his production came with the St. Louis Cardinals. The season-by-season stat lines from those glory days are smothered in “black ink” (categories in which he ranked first among qualified National League players). Pujols is undoubtedly one of the greatest right-handed hitters of his generation or any other.

Standard Batting
Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB
2001 21 STL NL 161 676 590 112 194 47 4 37 130 1 3 69 93 .329 .403 .610 1.013 157 360
2002 22 STL NL 157 675 590 118 185 40 2 34 127 2 4 72 69 .314 .394 .561 .955 151 331
2003 23 STL NL 157 685 591 137 212 51 1 43 124 5 1 79 65 .359 .439 .667 1.106 187 394
2004 24 STL NL 154 692 592 133 196 51 2 46 123 5 5 84 52 .331 .415 .657 1.072 173 389
2005 25 STL NL 161 700 591 129 195 38 2 41 117 16 2 97 65 .330 .430 .609 1.039 168 360
2006 26 STL NL 143 634 535 119 177 33 1 49 137 7 2 92 50 .331 .431 .671 1.102 178 359
2007 27 STL NL 158 679 565 99 185 38 1 32 103 2 6 99 58 .327 .429 .568 .997 157 321
2008 28 STL NL 148 641 524 100 187 44 0 37 116 7 3 104 54 .357 .462 .653 1.114 192 342
2009 29 STL NL 160 700 568 124 186 45 1 47 135 16 4 115 64 .327 .443 .658 1.101 189 374
2010 30 STL NL 159 700 587 115 183 39 1 42 118 14 4 103 76 .312 .414 .596 1.011 173 350
2011 31 STL NL 147 651 579 105 173 29 0 37 99 9 1 61 58 .299 .366 .541 .906 148 313

 

Miguel Cabrera (Detroit Tigers): 1,000 career extra-base hits

When it could happen: May 19-21 (vs. Texas Rangers)

It’s only fitting that Pujols and Miggy, who have such comparable skill sets and bodies of work, approach huge MLB milestones during the same week. In recent seasons, whatever athleticism Cabrera used to possess has deteriorated, forcing a defensive reassignment back to first base and increasingly conservative baserunning. How does he still manage to rack up the extra-base hits? By scorching balls over and through the defense. Since the birth of Statcast in 2015, Cabrera has ranked top five among MLB players each season in average exit velocity (min. 50 batted ball events). He’s aiming to become the 39th major leaguer in quadruple digits; 24 of the first 38 are already inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Justin Upton (Detroit Tigers): home runs against every major league team

When it could happen: May 16-18 (vs. Baltimore Orioles)

With several of his veteran teammates missing games due to injury and others stuck in slumps, Upton—not Cabrera—quietly leads the 2017 Tigers in Wins Above Replacement (1.6 WAR). Perhaps the timing is finally right for him to slay his white whale…or in this case, orange bird. Upton has faced Baltimore fewer times than any other opponent (29 PA in 7 G), with all of those matchups occurring during his uneven 2016 season. Now, the Orioles come to Motown in the midst of a season-long losing streak, listing Ubaldo Jimenez and Wade Miley among their probable starters. Both have previously served up long balls to Upton while pitching for other teams.

Matt Cain (San Francisco Giants): 2,000 career innings pitched

When it could happen: May 15 (vs. Los Angeles Dodgers)

By completing three more innings on the mound, the 32-year-old will become the 12th pitcher to rack up this kind of workload with the Giants franchise. Only Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry have done it since the relocation from New York to San Francisco. He’s the longest-tenured member of their current roster, even predating manager Bruce Bochy.

Jayson Werth (Washington Nationals): majority of career games played with the Nationals

Werth will always have an association with the Philadelphia Phillies because of his postseason heroics there (particularly during the 2008 World Series title run). However, this is shaping up to be the sixth consecutive season that Washington finishes ahead of Philly in the NL East, and he’s had an influence on each of those results. Participating in all six scheduled games this week would further strengthen his bond to the Nats. Werth’s 776th game with the club also serves as his 1,551st overall in the big leagues, meaning this stint in Washington would officially account for more than 50 percent of his career total.

Pending MLB milestones mentioned in previous weeks

  • Daniel Murphy (Washington Nationals): .300 career batting average
  • Evan Longoria (Tampa Bay Rays): most career walks, Rays franchise history
  • Jose Reyes (New York Mets): 2,000 career hits
  • Kenley Jansen (Los Angeles Dodgers): heaviest pitcher to record 200 career saves

Featured Image: 2017 Topps Baseball Series 1