MLB: Which Active Players Have the Best Chances For 3,000 Hits?
Adrian Beltre, 37 years old, 2,882 hits
When Adrian Beltre signed with the Seattle Mariners prior to the 2005 season, he led Ichiro in career hits, 949 to 924. Beltre had come up with the Dodgers as a 19-year-old in 1998, three years before Ichiro came over to the U.S. from Japan. In those three years, Beltre jumped out to a 338-hit advantage. As soon as Ichiro began his Major League career with the Mariners in 2001, he started to gain ground.
It was during the 2005 season that Ichiro passed Beltre in career hits. Beltre led Ichiro by one hit heading into their game on July 8th. In that game, Ichiro had a three hit day and moved ahead of Adrian to take a lead he has yet to relinquish. He added to his lead over the next five years and led Beltre by 395 hits after the 2011 season. Beltre’s been narrowing the gap ever since and the deficit is now down to 118 hits.
Beltre has made his journey to the front porch of 3,000 hits in a very different way than Ichiro. Ichiro began his career with 10 consecutive seasons with 200 or more hits. Beltre has just one 200-hit season in his career. There’s also a big difference in their approach. Ichiro often slaps the ball to the left side and sprints to first, while Beltre will swing hard, sometimes dropping to one knee, and still hit homers. For this era, they are both good at making contact relative to their peers.
They also each have their own little idiosyncrasies. Ichiro is constantly stretching, squatting, bending, and twisting, while Beltre is well known for hating having his head touched, especially if shortstop Elvis Andrus is the one doing the touching.
Beltre is likely to finish this year about 70 hits short of 3,000, so he should get there in the middle of the 2017 season. Depending on whether Ichiro comes back to play again in 2017, Beltre could pass his former teammate sometime in the second half next year.
Prediction for 3,000th hit: July, 2017.
Next: The 3,000 Hits and 600 Homers Man