It’s been a while since Matt Holliday has been seen as a premier outfielder, but the 37-year-old veteran is still notching milestones. Just a few weeks after tallying his 2,000th hit, the Yankees DH became a member of the 300-homer club Wednesday.
Marcus Stroman tossed a two-seam fastball that zipped in toward the middle of the plate.
It was a line drive off the bat, a no-doubter hit 440 feet to center field.
It was a milestone-worthy home run for Matt Holliday.
The New York Yankees designated hitter stroked his 300th career home run in the first inning of Wednesday’s 8-6 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays, adding himself to a list of 142 players with 300 or more during their MLB tenure.
The hit came 4,759 days after Holliday notched his first career home run back in 2004 as a member of the Colorado Rockies. This achievement also came just days after the 37-year-old outfielder captured his 2,000th career hit.
Holliday has been a pretty reliable outfielder, rarely getting injured and contributing with at least 20 homers a year. The veteran has tallied just three full seasons in which he did not play more than 100 games.
He’s just one those guys – one you would probably call an above-average player, but maybe not a Hall of Famer. Holliday played in St. Louis for several years after starting his career with Colorado and spending a short stint in Oakland.
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Now with the Yankees, the seven-time All-Star is just around to hit – he’s never been a stellar fielder, owning a .984 fielding percentage in the outfield. But even though he’s way past his prime, he still produces for New York. (Fact: These are the kinds of players the Yankees love).
Holliday probably won’t hit the 2,500 mark for hits, but he will still compile plenty of hits as long as he stays in the American League, where he can be a DH. He stacks up well offensively compared to a few other guys who are solely designated hitters, like Kendrys Morales and Brandon Moss, and he can also start in the field some games.
Maybe the best thing out of all this is that while he’s getting fewer at-bats in New York, he’s making them count. His on-base percentage and slugging percentage this season are higher than his career averages – yes, small sample size! – but it makes him more valuable since he can focus on just his approach at the dish.
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He probably won’t stick around much longer, even though he will be given opportunities as a DH presumably. But he’s accomplished quite a bit for a guy who wasn’t a top-tier draft prospect. And he’s definitely been a clutch performer at times, even in his old age.
Just ask Orioles pitcher Jayson Aquino.