Albert Pujols is returning to the St. Louis Cardinals to play his final MLB season, in front of the fans that cheered him for years in the 2000s and 2011.
He is coming home on a cheap one-year deal worth $2.5 million with some incentives.
A liability against righties, Pujols has still got it against lefties and could be part of a platoon.
It’s highly unlikely that he is an unquestioned starter in a contending team like the Cards, but he will have his fair share of at-bats.
He hasn’t talked much about it, but it’s likely that the 42-year-old Pujols has two goals: making the postseason with the Cardinals and getting to 700 home runs.
Albert Pujols is 21 HRs away from 700 and achieving that milestone in a Cardinals jersey at Busch Stadium would be special.
All around great for baseball. pic.twitter.com/jQj7MK5zk3
— Leslie Mines (@LeslieMinesIII) March 27, 2022
‘The Machine’, as he is often called, is currently at 679 homers, so he would need 21 more to reach 700.
As Leslie Mines says, it would be magical for him to get to 700 at Busch Stadium, with thousands of people screaming his name.
Pujols May Have A Hard Time Getting To 700 Homers
But odds may be against him.
Last year, between the Los Angeles Angels and Dodgers, Pujols knocked 17 homers in 296 plate appearances, and that was in 109 games.
The low number of plate appearances and the high number of games tell us that he was used as a pinch hitter a lot, so in the end, there may not be enough at-bats for him to have a shot at 700.
If it took 296 plate appearances for him to hit 17 dingers, simple math says that he may need 365 trips to the plate to hit 21, and that doesn’t count natural decline because it’s impossible to know how much his skills will erode.
Only three hitters have 700 or more round-trippers: Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), and Babe Ruth (714).
That’s how hard it is to hit 700.
Pujols is currently fifth in the all-time ranking, behind Alex Rodriguez‘s 696.
Will the Cardinals give him enough at-bats to have a chance at history?
NEXT: Albert Pujols Chasing Unique Cardinals History In 2022