Entering Friday, Albert Pujols sits just one hit shy of 3,000 for his career. When that inevitable base hit comes, he will become just the 32nd player ever to reach that milestone.
Who’s next to join him on the list? Here are eight active players that have a chance of potentially reaching the 3,000 hit club. Their career hit totals listed are through games played on May 3.
A minimum of 800 career hits was needed to make the list. Someone like Carlos Correa, Mookie Betts, or even Ronald Acuna could put together excellent hit totals over the next few seasons to put them in position to have a chance, but it needs to be seen first.
Miguel Cabrera 2,666 hits
While Cabrera is in the latter stages of his career at the age of 35, he should play long enough to reach 3,000 hits. He is just 334 away, and his contract runs through 2023 which will pay him a ton of money. Even in a very down (for him) 2017 season, he had 117 hits. He has looked more like himself this year hitting .323. He was just placed on the 10-day DL on Friday with hamstring troubles.
Robinson Cano 2,408 hits
The eight-time All-Star turns 36 on October 22, but much like Cabrera, Cano has a large contract through 2023 which should keep him motivated to keep playing even as he approaches 40. He’s still producing as well hitting .299 thus far this season and .280 in 2017.
Elvis Andrus 1,474 hits
Becoming a regular starter at the age of 20 has Andrus nearly halfway to 3,000 hits at the age of 29. Unfortunately an elbow injury forced him to the 60-day DL, and he won’t be back until June at the earliest. He finished with a career-high 191 hits in 2017.
Starlin Castro 1,315 hits
Already in his ninth season and just 28 years old, what also helps Castro’s chances of perhaps reaching 3,000 hits is the amount of at bats he receives due to a lack of walks.
He’s never had more than 36 in a season and led the National League in at bats every year from 2011-13. If he can remain an everyday player for the next decade, he has a decent chance.
Jose Altuve 1,293 hits
Turning 28 on May 6, Altuve has led the American League in hits four straight years averaging around 211 per season. If the reigning American League MVP keeps up close to that rate for the next few years, he will begin to approach 3,000 rapidly.
Mike Trout 1,073 hits
Still just 26 years old (turns 27 on August 6), what hurts Trout’s chances are the fact he has walked on 14.2 percent of his career plate appearances. He has been an amazing hitter though since debuting right before his 20th birthday and still could have a decade-plus of superb play where his career hit total could easily approach the 3,000 mark towards the end of his career.
Manny Machado 905 hits
Machado has a long way to go still, but he turns just 26 on July 6. Other than 2014, he has remained relatively durable averaging almost 158 games played in his other four full seasons. He has been raking the ball so far this season to the tune of a .358 batting average.
Bryce Harper 811 hits
Like Trout, Harper’s propensity for drawing walks could hurt his chances at 3,000 hits at the end of his career. Since 2015, he has walked on 17.8 percent of his plate appearances. He started playing in the majors at the age of 19 though and is still just 25 years old. He can’t have too many more injury-plagued seasons though if he wants to reach the milestone as he played in just 100 games in 2014 and 111 last season.
