Smaller Stats

Who stands to lose the most if baseball plays half a season this year -- or has to cancel things outright? Albert Pujols quickly comes to mind. Now 40, he's 44 home runs short of 700 and 25 RBI short of 2100. On the other hand, he starts the year with a .300 lifetime batting average -- but hasn't reached that level in any of the last nine seasons.

A complete 2020 -- injury free, of course -- would leave the future Hall of Famer 25 or fewer homers from becoming just the fourth player to reach 700 homers (third if you overlook Barry Bonds). As things stand, he's four behind Willie Mays.

Who else might lose out on a chance to reach milestones?

  • Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers is 185 hits shy of 3000 and 23 homes from 500.
  • Jon Lester of the Cubs is 10 victories shy 200.

While their place in history is assured, there's got to be a level of frustration being ready and hopeful -- and having the game placed on hold by a situation well beyond any one man's control.

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