With his explosive weekend that included a two-homer game on Saturday, St. Louis Cardinals‘ Albert Pujols is officially on the 700-homer watch.
He is currently at 692 blasts, just eight shy of becoming the fourth hitter in the history of the game to hit at least 700 dingers: Barry Bonds, Henry Aaron, and Babe Ruth were the others.
According to Baseball Reference, Pujols’ numbers since July 10 are magnificent.
“Since July 10th, Albert Pujols ranks across the MLB: BA: 1st (.403); OPS: 1st (1.289); HR: 8th (9),” they tweeted.
The specialized stats site also calculated his odds of reaching 700 home runs, and posted a graph.
Since July 10th, Albert Pujols ranks across the MLB:
BA: 1st (.403)
OPS: 1st (1.289)
HR: 8th (9)Assuming Pujols continues to play at his current game pace for St. Louis, here are his chances at 700 HR:#STLCards | @Cardinals pic.twitter.com/fM0jxYNqR0
— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) August 22, 2022
As the graph states, there is a 7.1 percent chance Pujols reaches 700 career home runs in 2022, assuming he plays 59 percent of the Cards’ games.
It’s his only chance, as he stated before the start of the season that this will be his last campaign as a major leaguer.
At 42, the legendary slugger probably wants more time with his family.
The Cardinals Can’t Give Him More Playing Time At The Moment
If Pujols were an everyday player, the odds would probably be higher.
The feat remains an unlikely proposition, however, mainly because most of his playing time comes against left-handed pitchers.
Against southpaws, Pujols is slashing .388/.429/.776 with nine homers and a stellar 1.205 OPS.
Against righties, however, his performance plummets to .186/.287/.319, four round-trippers, and a mediocre .605 OPS.
With the Cardinals playing for the top spot in the NL Central, Pujols’ playing time against righties will be limited.
If they manage to clinch the division relatively early, then they could conceivably give Pujols every at-bat he needs to complete the feat.
The numbers say that the Pujols reaching 700 homers is unlikely, but not impossible.
As long as there is hope, everyone will be watching.
