Albert Pujols now 10 away from 700 homers: How he can make history

Albert Pujols has already announced his retirement after the conclusion of this season, and the St. Louis Cardinals slugger could hold a big home run milestone by the time he walks away.

The 42-year-old Pujols has been on a tear in recent games for the St. Louis Cardinals, slashing .415/.467/.854 with five home runs and 15 RBI in just 41 at-bats since the All-Star break. Those home runs are part of the 690 career homers he has produced in his 22-year MLB career, ranking him fifth on MLB’s all-time home run list.

Pujols needs just six home runs to tie Alex Rodriguez for fourth on the list at 696 and only 10 to become just the fourth player in MLB history with 700 or more home runs, joining Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), and Babe Ruth (714).

Could Albert Pujols of St. Louis Cardinals reach 700 home runs before retiring at the end of the season?

Now 66-51 on the season, the Cardinals have 45 regular-season games left in 2022. Pujols has hit 11 home runs in 190 at-bats so far this season (one every 17.27 at-bats). Following that math, that means that Pujols would need roughly 172 at-bats over the final 45 games to statistically get 10 more home runs. That’s almost four at-bats per game left in the regular season, so the chances are slim, but certainly not impossible.

Of course, he has reduced that average greatly with his performance since the All-Star Game, hitting a home run in every 8.2 at-bats during that span. At that rate, he would need just 82 at-bats over the rest of the season, a much more doable number.

Another thing working against Pujols in his chase for 700 is that he has been predominantly in the lineup against left-handers (where he was slashing .363/.402/.700 against them after a memorable day on Thursday against the Colorado Rockies). On Thursday, he smacked a pinch-hit grand slam, his 16th all-time, tying Hank Aaron, Dave Kingman, and Babe Ruth for the 10th-most grand slams in MLB history.

If a southpaw isn’t on the mound, Pujols usually isn’t in the lineup this season. Case in point with Colorado on Thursday as right-hander Antonio Senzatela started the game, but left early due to an injury. Left-hander Austin Gomber took over for him, and that’s when Pujols was sent in as a pinch-hitter and hit his grand slam.

Pujols has already said that he doesn’t plan to stick around longer than 2022 to get to 700 home runs, so unless everything falls just right for him over the next 45 games, he may well finish his career just short of the milestone.