From Yadier Molina to Max Scherzer, MLB milestones to watch in 2022
There are some sacred milestone numbers in baseball that signify greatness. 3000 hits, 300 wins, 500 HR are numbers that every baseball fan knows. While we may have seen our last 300 game winner and the 500 HR mark has lost some of its luster due to steroids, there still are some worthwhile MLB milestones in reach this season.
Here are the MLB milestones to watch for during the 2022 season
600 2B – Miguel Cabrera (597) and Robinson Cano (571)
We’ll get to Cabrera and all his potential milestones later. For now, Cano has the opportunity to become the 19th player in history to reach 600 doubles. With 35 doubles, he would move into the top 15 in history. He’s contracted to earn $48 million combined over the next two seasons so, barring injuries or PED suspensions, he should reach 600 this year or next year.
200 HBP – Anthony Rizzo
Already the active leader by a wide margin, 32-year-old Anthony Rizzo needs 22 bean balls to become just the ninth player in recorded history to be hit 200 times. He could move as high as eighth all-time if he’s able to get beaned 27 times, a mark he’s reached twice in his career. For his career, Rizzo is just 109 HBP behind the all-time leader, Hall of Famer Hughie Jennings (who averaged 48 HBP from 1896-1898). That mark is well within his reach if he keeps crowding the plate into his late 30s
2,000 strikeouts – Justin Upton (1948) and Miguel Cabrera (1930)
Only six players in history have had the dubious honor of striking out 2,000 times. Chances are that number will grow to eight by the end of this season. At age 34, Upton has a realistic shot at passing Reggie Jackson’s career mark of 2,597. Upton is guaranteed $28 million for 2022 and will likely get enough playing time to reach 2,000. He hasn’t had a good offensive season since 2018 so there’s no guarantees he will get enough playing time to pass Mr. October.
.300/.400/.500 – Joey Votto
This one is more in danger than in reach. As of right now, Joey Votto is one of 18 players in baseball history to have 8,000 plate appearances and a slash line of .300/.400/.500. While his OBP and SLG are safely above their thresholds, Votto’s .302 career batting average could drop below .300 for the first time since 2008. He shifted his approach last season which resulted in greater power and lower average. If he repeats his 2021 output of .266 average over 448 AB, his career average will be .299 at year’s end.
30 dWAR – Andrelton Simmons (28.1)
Simmons may be the greatest defensive player of his generation. He’s likely to become just the eighth player in history to reach the 30 dWAR mark … and in only his 11th season. Ironically, the only barrier for Simmons could be getting enough playing time as his poor offensive output in recent years has reduced his playing time some.
4865 putouts as a catcher – Yadier Molina (4610)
Molina is regarded by some as the best defensive catcher in history. While that seems like a bit of a stretch to me, he certainly has been one of the best. Having already announced his retirement tour for the 2022 season, Molina needs only 255 putouts to top Ivan Rodriguez for the most ever by a catcher. As catchers get credit for a putout when they catch strike three, Molina’s record may be more of a sign of the high strikeout era in which he played than anything else.
Here are the MLB pitching milestones to watch for in 2022
200 Wins – Max Scherzer (190), Clayton Kershaw (185), and Adam Wainwright (184)
Pitcher wins just don’t mean as much anymore because pitchers don’t pitch as late into games. Active leader, Justin Verlander (226) might make it to 250 if he remains healthy over his new two-year contract. So, to hit 200 wins in modern baseball is a significant milestone. If you look at the three that have a chance this year, they are three of the best, most durable pitchers of the last dozen or so seasons. A more important number for Scherzer this season may be 173, the number he needs to reach 12th all-time in strikeouts for a pitcher.
3000 IP – Justin Verlander (2988)
Verlander has only pitched six innings over the last two seasons but it seems likely that he will pitch the 12 innings needed to reach this mark sometime in April. 3000 innings pitched is another one of those pitching milestones that we may not see reached too many more times. Scherzer (2536.2) and Kershaw (2454.2) are the most likely active players to get there after Verlander but they are still three to four seasons away.
400 Saves – Craig Kimbrel (372)
Dirty Craig has had his ups and downs the last couple of years and has only managed 39 saves over the last three seasons. That said, as a Cub in 2021, Kimbrel looked like the elite reliever of his 20s. It seems more than likely that the White Sox will entertain trade offers rather than pay $16 million for a setup man. If Kimbrel resumes closing games in 2022, he’s only 28 saves away from becoming the seventh pitcher in history to record 400 career saves.
Here are the potential milestones in 2022 for Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera
Albert Pujols Milestones
By year’s end, even with very modest production, Pujols will be 12th in runs, 10th in hits, sixth in at-bats and plate appearances, fifth in doubles, home runs, and games played (including his 3000th game if he plays in 64), and third in extra-base hits, total bases, and RBI all-time in MLB history. While he will likely serve as a platoon DH wherever he ends up playing, if he repeats his .293/.336/.603 batting line against LHP pitching in 2022 all these milestones will be entirely possible.
Pujols is already one of the greatest hitters in history. He has reached all the significant milestones he will reach. With his numerous foot injuries in his career, he could choose to slowly walk away from the game rather than pursue another year. However, he has been playing winter ball this year and certainly seems like he’s not done yet.
Miguel Cabrera Milestones
The most celebrated milestone in MLB this year will be Cabrera’s 3,000th hit. With only 13 hits remaining this should happen sometime early in the season. Who knows? Maybe hit number 3,000 will be his 600th double. While Cabrera is no longer a perennial MVP candidate, he’s still a league average hitter and has a 99 OPS+ over the last five combined seasons. Assuming he stays healthy and relatively productive, it’s entirely possible that Cabrera could pass guys like Rod Carew, Ichiro Suzuki, and Alex Rodriguez on the hit list this year.
There are a few other milestones to watch out for with Cabrera this season. The not-so-heralded milestone of 10,000 at-bats will be within reach, as will be entering the top-15 all-time in RBI and extra base hits. With just 11 more homers, he’ll top Ernie Banks and Eddie Matthews on the career list and if he can muster 20 home runs (something he has only done once in the last seven seasons), he’ll pass Frank Thomas, Willie McCovey, and Ted Williams. Cabrera is guaranteed $64 over the next two seasons so, if he doesn’t reach these marks in 2022, he’ll have another shot in 2023.
The path for Albert Pujols to return to St. Louis. dark. Next
When Cabrera gets his 600th double and 3,000th hit, he will join Hank Aaron as the only two players in MLB history to hit 500 HR, 600 2B, 3,000 hits, and a career batting average over .300. Not too shabby.