What if ichiro

Ichiro makes the big club in spring training entering the season. His healthy batting averages and speed earn him a permanent spot at with the Mariners at the Kingdome. That translates to hits with 32 steals. He enters now at full peak, with five extra major league peak years before the season, when he actually did join the Mariners.

Hits: 4, Stolen Bases: , landing him at 6 on the all-time list. Everyone higher on this list is in the Hall of Fame except for Tim Raines at 5 and he seems likely to get in this year. And if he had hit for power, would his teams have been better off? Drew and Derrek Lee. The key was combining his hitting style with his defense, his durability — he lost zero time to injury until a ulcer and calf strain — and his leadoff spot, which generated lots of plate appearances.

He parks pitch after pitch into the right-field stands. A few land in the upper deck. When I first heard his claim, I was skeptical that a star player could completely reinvent himself after making the majors. Zack Cozart went from the worst hitter in baseball to an above-average one because Barry Larkin casually suggested he swing harder.

If lesser beings can pull off those apparent impossibilities, then maybe Ichiro really could have done a convincing impression of a power hitter. Would he have been better or worse?

For the hypothetical Ichiros, I locked in 40 dingers and a. If Ichiro had turned into a slugger, then like most sluggers he probably would have hit in the heart of the order. He also gets intentionally walked and hit by pitches slightly more often, because pitchers are afraid of his power. Mostly, he hits many fewer singles and many more home runs. The verdict?

Forty-homer Ichiro is way worse than the real thing, more likely to make pitchers pay for mistakes but also much more exploitable like Mark Reynolds or Chris Carter. Although he produces more total bases, the OBP loss hurts more than the slugging gain helps, and being on base less often limits his opportunities to steal. Although Ichiro's first predicted years seemed moderately inflated, at 19, Bryce Harper had hits as a rookie, and Mike Trout had in his first full year in the majors.

Also, we are assuming that Ichiro debuted as a full-time player in the season, that he was a well regarded prospect, and that he didn't have any major injuries throughout the predicted years. Adding up the predicted hits to his current tally, he would have accumulated hits over his MLB career.

This would have been enough to be the 1 all-time hitting leader over Pete Rose and Ty Cobb. Nonetheless, Ichiro has been a special player. Although being 42 years old and slotted to be the Marlin's 4 th outfielder for this season, Ichiro might get enough playing time and at-bats to reach the mark.

He has not announced any plans of retiring, but we must recognize one of the best hitters that MLB has seen, and enjoy every minute of his illustrious career. Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from.

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