WATCH: Cardinals' Albert Pujols Blasts Career Home Run Number 693
In the top of the seventh inning in a scoreless game at Wrigley Field Monday night, Albert Pujols sent a high fastball from Chicago Cubs’ pitcher Drew Smyly into the left field bleachers.
The solo home run that gave the Cardinals the 1-0 lead versus the Cubs was number 693 in Pujols’ illustrious career.
With just 41 games remaining in a season that Pujols has insisted will be his last, the three-time National League MVP is sprinting full speed ahead to the finish line.
Since August 9, Pujols is slashing an unprecedented .556/.586/1.846 and has homered in seven of his 30 at bats. He now has 14 home runs this season.
Only three players — Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714) — have ever hit 700 or more home runs. There remains just one other player with more home runs than Pujols: Alex Rodriguez (696). If Pujols is able to hit seven more home runs before season’s end, he will become the first player that has never been linked to performance enhancing drugs, to enter the 700 club since Hank Aaron did in 1973.
Pujols will have 41 games to get to 700. If he were to play in 35 of those games, he would need to hit one home run every five games. It will be an uphill climb to reach the historic mark, but if Pujols stays the pace he’s on right now, it shouldn’t be too difficult.
Realistically, nobody slashes .556/.586/1.846 for longer than two weeks, but Pujols’ recent hot streak has greatly enhanced his statistics for the 2022 season.
On July 9, he was slashing .198/.291/.624 on the season. Since, he’s upped his slash line to .273/.348/.863, raking .403/.456/1.289 over the last six weeks with 9 home runs and 19 RBI in 85 at bats.
Pujols has bashed left-handed pitchers this season. His splits facing righties and lefties are wildly drastic. Versus righties, Pujols is hitting .186/.287/.605 with 73 OPS+, with four home runs and 14 RBI in 113 at bats. Versus lefties, Pujols is hitting .388/.429/1.205 with a 231 OPS+, nine home runs and 23 RBI.
Perhaps the key to Pujols reaching the 700 mark lies in how many lefties he is able to face before the end of the season.
