MLB: Major Milestones Coming Soon for Ichiro Suzuki, Alex Rodriguez and Others

Alex Rodriguez and Ichiro Suzuki are nearing major MLB milestones, while Carlos Beltran, Miguel Cabrera and Zack Greinke are close to reaching significant marks as well.

Sometime in the next couple months, baseball fans will see five veteran players reach major career milestones. The two biggest stories will be Ichiro Suzuki reaching 3,000 hits in his major league career and Alex Rodriguez eclipsing the 700 home run mark. Never before in baseball history has there been a season in which the 3,000 hit and 700 home run barriers were eclipsed.

Two players are nearing 1,500 RBI for their careers—Carlos Beltran and Miguel Cabrera. Beltran currently sits at 1,491 RBI and Miggy is coming up quickly behind, with 1,488. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Cabrera get there first. Carlos Beltran is also on the cusp of scoring 1,500 runs in his career. He needs just 13 to reach that mark.

Finally, Zack Greinke has 1,972 career strikeouts. John Lackey and Cole Hamels have already surpassed 2,000 strikeouts this season. Greinke should do it sometime in the next month, and James Shields needs 96 strikeouts to get there, although with the way he’s pitching, that may not happen in 2016. Clayton Kershaw needs 113 strikeouts to reach 2,000. He’s averaging 11 K/9, so he should get there in the second half.

Let’s take a closer look at when each of these players is likely to reach these marks.

Next: Carlos Beltran Nearing 1,500 RBI