Even at age 44 with 3,000-plus MLB hits in his pocket, Ichiro might not quite be ready to say goodbye to baseball yet.
The sounds of bats hitting balls are filling the air again with spring training underway for MLB teams. Ichiro Suzuki isn’t on any of those teams’ rosters, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s giving up on the idea that he will be.
The Miami Marlins, Ichiro’s most recent team, didn’t pick up his option for this year, meaning he;s now a free agent. At 44, an age when almost every MLB player is already retired, it’s possible that no one will call him about a roster spot.
Still, ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian caught the outfielder doing what he’s always done, still honing his swing.
Here’s a video of Ichiro hitting last week. He wants to continue playing in the big leagues at age 44. pic.twitter.com/HRT0yLTcLc
— Tim Kurkjian (@Kurkjian_ESPN) February 28, 2018
Maybe that’s what you do when you already have more than 4,300 hits as a professional ball player to your name: You just keep hitting. Even if that call never comes, Ichiro is going to put his legendary attention to detail to work and keep sharp just in case.
Somewhat amazingly, Ichiro was still useful even in his age 43 season in 2017. While his 215 plate appearances were the lowest of his 17-year MLB career, he still racked up 50 more hits, albeit at only a .255 clip. He did post an OBP of .318, and his WAR of -0.3 wasn’t terrible.
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The problem is that he’s also now a liability in the field and his speed has decreased dramtically — last season was the first in which he didn’t steal at least 10 bases — limiting his role to that of left-handed pinch-hitting specialist. Since he also doesn’t have a lot of power, that’s a pretty specific niche that not a ton of teams need to fill.
Still, it would be amazing to see a contender give him a shot as an end of the bench option. We can guarantee he’ll report ready to go.