Albert Pujols

Just a few weeks ago, the chances of Albert Pujols reaching the career mark of 700 home runs was pretty far-fetched. He is in the midst of a surge right now ...

[Cardinals](https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/teams/STL/st-louis-cardinals/) face, the better the chances get for Pujols. The home run coming against the Cubs should be pretty familiar: It was the 58th of his career. He has homered seven times in the last 12 days now, pushing him up to the point where it seems like a sure bet he'll pass A-Rod and put a realistic run at 700 on the table. [Cardinals won the game, 1-0](https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/gametracker/boxscore/MLB_20220822_STL@CHC/). At the time, it looked like his chances to catch A-Rod were in jeopardy and the 700 plateau was an incredibly tall order. He is in the midst of a surge right now and it's starting to come into view, however.

Albert Pujols moved one step closer to the 700 club on Monday night with a home run off Chicago Cubs pitcher Drew Smyly to lift the St. Louis Cardinals to a ...

[CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP](https://foxnews.onelink.me/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&af_dp=foxnewsaf%3A%2F%2F&af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fapps-products) [Jordan Montgomery threw 99 pitches](https://www.foxnews.com/sports/yankees-acquire-harrison-bader-cardinals-last-second-deadline-deal) and held the Cubs scoreless. Louis Cardinals slugger](https://www.foxnews.com/category/sports/mlb/st-louis-cardinals) hit home run No. [CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM](https://www.foxnews.com/sports) "Hopefully, if I’m in the lineup [for Tuesday’s doubleheader], maybe I can hit another home run off someone who I haven’t faced. Pujols hit the home run off Drew Smyly.

St. Louis Cardinals legend Albert Pujols has been on a tear of late, and has 693 career home runs as he closes in on another milestone.

finished their careers at that mark. But let’s put that stat in perspective: Do you know how many players have over 449 home runs TOTAL? That’s his highest slugging percentage in a 10-game stretch…ever. Albert Pujols stat No. If you were going to tell me 22 years ago that I would be this close, I would have told you that you’re freakin’ crazy. The home runs are just the beginning, but reaching 700 would put a cap on a career that will surely earn him a spot in Cooperstown.

Albert Pujols' career is winding down, but he's going out with a bang — or 700 of them.

23, Pujols has a 9.1 percent chance that he finishes with at least 700 home runs, assuming that he plays at the same pace that he has already this season. He also has a 4.9 percent chance of finishing with exactly 700 home runs. He's gotten extremely hot in August, with seven home runs in 40 plate appearances, that number sits at 17.5 percent. Pujols has hit six home runs in his last seven games (through Aug. Like bananas, home runs come in bunches, and Pujols has put himself in prime position to make a run at 700 over the last month of the season. He looks to join Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714) as the only sluggers to earn their exclusive club jacket.

Pujols has been red hot in August and could jump A-Rod on the all-time HR list soon.

If Pujols does finish the season with 699 homers, I'm sure failing to become the fourth player ever to hit 700 homers would be a bit of a letdown, but there's no shame in being the fourth player ever with 699 homers. [Back in spring training Pujols said he is planning to retire after this season](https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/albert-pujols-says-he-will-retire-after-2022-season-with-cardinals-this-is-my-last-round/), but what if he finishes the year with, say, 699 homers? On paper, the Cardinals have a favorable September schedule (24 of their final 34 games are against the [Cubs](https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/teams/CHC/chicago-cubs/), [Nationals](https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/teams/WAS/washington-nationals/), [Pirates](https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/teams/PIT/pittsburgh-pirates/), and [Reds](https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/teams/CIN/cincinnati-reds/)), so it's possible they will run away with the NL Central before long. At this point in his career Pujols is a lefty masher and a lefty masher only. You know the fans will want to see it, and the universal DH would allow Pujols to play every single game without the wear and tear of playing the field. And, if the Cardinals do begin to run away with the division, would they give Pujols more playing time against righties just to give him more at-bats, and maximize his chances at 700 homers? Keep in mind that, should Pujols pass A-Rod on the career home run leaderboard, he will take over as the all-time home run leader among infielders. As some fans and certain segments of the media are wont to do, we can attach asterisks to almost anyone on the all-time home run list. So, the question on everyone's mind is can Pujols actually reach 700 career home runs before the end of the season? Louis Cardinals](https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/teams/STL/st-louis-cardinals/) legend and future Hall of Famer [Albert Pujols](/mlb/players/223571/albert-pujols/) is approaching the hallowed 700 homers milestone. The historical relevance of 700 homers is obvious. Of course, Pujols would almost certainly have already hit his 700th homer if not for the shortened pandemic season in 2020, but that was beyond his control.

With 41 games left — and one HR every 4.4 at-bats in the past two weeks — 700 is legitimately in play.

[What's at stake with Biden's looming student loan announcement](/2022/08/23/biden-expected-student-loan-forgiveness) Just ask Ken Griffey Jr. - For 20+ years, just about everything has to break right. The big picture: A handful of active players are long shots to reach 700. But there's a reason the club is so small. My career has been amazing."

Sure, Aaron Judge is the only one in baseball who is chasing the single-season home run record (which is 73, not 61), but Albert Pujols' quest to hit 700 home ...

Bet on it because we all deserve to witness greatness while we can. Bet on it because many of the prices offered will be so far off the true value it’s impossible to turn down. Any time a lefty enters the game, it’s fair to assume Pujols will, too. So if Baseball Reference is assuming that 15 percent chance comes with him playing in just 59 percent of St. Sportsbooks all over are rushing to price out the odds here. The reality is Pujols rakes against lefties and does little damage against anyone else.

The St. Louis Cardinals' cushy schedule gives Albert Pujols a chance to join the 700-home run club. Here's how he can do it.

Pujols currently has a home run in nearly one in seven at-bats over the past month. The Cardinals will likely miss Smyly and Steele in their next series against the Cubs. The Cardinals will then have two more games against the Brewers, again with Ashby and Lauer possibly making starts. He’s a very tough lefty, but the Cardinals will likely have Pujols in there. The Cardinals are likely to see another left-hander, Justin Steele, pitch in the final game. So let’s look at how many lefties the Cardinals are likely to face for the remainder of the season.

Albert Pujols #5 of the St. Louis Cardinals tips his helmet to the crowd (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images). Another day, another home run for Albert Pujols.

His home run ultimately won the game and was enough for Montgomery to finish off the Cubs. Pujols is red-hot and coming through in the clutch like he did in his prime. Pujols has proven that he still has what it takes to be successful in the Major Leagues, even with his career in the home stretch. [Jordan Montgomery](https://www.baseball-reference.com/search/search.fcgi?pid=montgjo01,montgo001jor&search=Jordan+Montgomery&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=&utm_medium=referral) to pitch the game of his life, as he one-hit the Cubs and went the distance. He’s hitting .277 and is up to 14 home runs on the season. Since July began, Pujols has turned back the clock to his prime days, when he could put home runs in the seats like nobody’s business.

“I think I'm here for a reason,” Albert Pujols had said back in March, upon rejoining the St. Louis Cardinals — the franchise he'd spent his first 11 seasons ...

Maybe that mutually welcomed return was all he needed to rediscover the form that brought him so much success earlier in his long and storied career. Aside from the situational ability to [hit left-handed pitching](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=pujolal01&year=2021&t=b#plato), Pujols had shown zero signs that his final stint with the Cardinals would be anything but ceremonial. This was a bona fide, first-ballot Hall of Famer who fell on hard times over a period of multiple seasons, was [cut by the Halos before his mega-contract ended](https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/angels-to-release-albert-pujols-in-final-season-of-10-year-contract/), did little of note in a brief stint with the Dodgers in 2021 and was well on the wrong side of 40 at the time of his St. OPS+ PA Louis](https://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/pujols-signs-with-angels-10-years-254-million/article_9181b070-21ae-11e1-93ef-0019bb30f31a.html) for the Los Angeles Angels in 2012 was mainly memorable for [how underwhelming it was](https://sports.yahoo.com/albert-pujols-mlb-mega-contract-list-rodriguez-cabrera-kershaw-scherzer-220532734.html). While Pujols hasn’t quite been as good as the Splendid Splinter or Big Papi were — he is a bit older, after all — his OPS+ currently ranks sixth-best among qualified hitters in their swan songs, as fitting a career finale as we could imagine for [The Machine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5VH7ZudR0c). As far as career goodbyes go, Pujols is also going out in a style few players have ever managed to pull off. 42 (Through Sunday, Pujols needed five more homers to pass A-Rod and eight more to hit the 700 mark.) There are also the special moments Pujols has created this season, not least of which was a Cinderella run [to the semifinal of July’s home run derby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Major_League_Baseball_Home_Run_Derby) before narrowly losing to eventual winner (and fellow Dominican) Juan Soto. But Pujols is going out with nothing less than a performance for the ages. “They believe I can still play this game, and they believe I can help this organization win a championship.”

The Chicago Cubs will honor Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina before their final game at Wrigley Field. For Pujols, the farewell tour has been low-key despite ...

“But I just want to be there for them,” he continued. “I want to be there for that.” I definitely don’t want to be the guy who is hanging on for dear life at the very end. I guess there is a caveat to that. He hasn’t said he’s retiring, though many expect him to go out with Pujols and Molina after this season. Pujols clearly could be a part-time player again in 2023 if he wanted to return. But the Cleveland Indians signed him the following June and he notched one more win to finish with an even 300. “He’s swinging a hot bat and he’s locked in right now in the strike zone, swinging at good pitches,” Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright said Tuesday after the Cubs’ 2-0 victory in Game 1. Once the postseason begins, assuming the Cardinals hold on to a playoff spot, there will be no time for tributes. He has shown lately he has something left in the tank at 42, and he probably could handle another season or two if he chose. Maybe the goodbye party will pick up in the final month, at least for Pujols, as he nears his last regular-season game Oct. The Pujols farewell tour has been relatively low-key so far, as one might expect for a player who seldom called attention to himself during a legendary career.

He'd have one more than Jose Canseco and Adam Dunn and two fewer than Dave Winfield, and what's the fun in that? It is, however, a revelation to see his ...

As a happy coincidence, Pujols’s resurgence and that of the Cardinals is a Venn Diagram superimposed upon itself, and if that causes hives, twitching, and even scurvy in the Defector offices due to bad memories of Leitch gone by, facts are facts, ma’am. Anyway, Pujols remains the man who went to Hollywood, found money, mediocrity, and anonymity, then went home to tidy up his affairs and is having the time of his life. [his Baseball Reference page](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/pujolal01.shtml) and see the stark contrast between his Missouri years and his years of delightfully compensated but otherwise unrewarding exile in what Bill Hicks liked to call Hell-A. It’s basically an Afterschool Special, with The Rock as Pujols, Ryan Reynolds as Paul Goldschmidt, and Keira Knightley as Lars Nootbaar. Steroids!” and to that we say, “Sure, fine, whatever. He’d have one more than Jose Canseco and Adam Dunn and two fewer than Dave Winfield, and what’s the fun in that?

Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols stood in center field surrounded by a trio of younger Cubs players: Christopher Morel, Nelson Velazquez and Franmil Reyes.

The pitch he hit was a sinker at about eye level, seemingly safely out of the strike zone. ‘‘This pitch, off a lefty guy, and he made good contact to left field and homered? He won co-National League Player of the Week honors last week for going 8-for-13 with three homers and seven RBI. ‘‘And for a guy who has accomplished so much in the game and been around so much, played with so many guys, it seemed like he was really humbled by . Said Cubs outfielder Rafael Ortega, who overlapped with Pujols on the Angels in 2016: ‘‘When you said ‘Pujols’ to me, it’s unbelievable. Pujols’ farewell tour and quest for 700 career home runs converged this week at Wrigley Field during a five-game series between the Cubs and Cardinals.

The Cardinals' Albert Pujols delivered three extra-base hits in the first two games of his final series at Wrigley, including his 58th homer against the ...

The greatest player in Phillies history played more games against the Cubs (269) than any opponent, and it seemed like a lot more to Cubs pitchers — who gave up 78 home runs to Schmidt (.985 OPS). Before there were Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and 2018 Christian Yelich, there was this Hammerin’ fellow who made the drive from Milwaukee to clobber Cubs pitchers for home runs more often than he hit them anywhere else on the road (50 of his 87 against the Cubs coming at Wrigley). He went 28-4 with a 3.32 ERA and 11 complete games in 39 starts (plus a relief appearance) against them. Nobody liked facing Gooden with the Mets in the 1980s, but nobody had it worse than the Cubs — by far his most commonly defeated opponent. In fact, his 1.000 career OPS against the Cubs is higher than any other opponent — and he was even better at Wrigley (.342 with 54 homers and 1.077 OPS in 179 games. He was 13-0 with a 1.91 ERA and 12.4 strikeouts per 9 in 14 starts (plus a relief appearance). A career .305 hitter, Aaron hit .326 against the Cubs — including .337 at Wrigley. The Big Unit faced all 30 teams in a career split between the two leagues, and the only team to never beat him (minimum 2 decisions). And he especially loved Wrigley Field, where he hit more homers (50) than any other road park and where his 1.048 OPS was better than any other park he played, home, road or Yellowstone. “The dude was the best hitter in baseball,” Dempster said. Maybe this shouldn’t surprise anyone, but nobody has hit more home runs against the Cubs than the Giants’ inner-circle Hall of Famer (92). “It was so much fun to battle against the guy,” Dempster said.

St. Lousi Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols has been red hot in the month of August, and he broke a record held by Ted Williams in the process.

[hit his 693rd career home run](https://fansided.com/2022/08/22/albert-pujols-sends-mlb-twitter-chaos-home-run-no-693-cubs/) in St. In the process, he has [ made history in a variety of ways](https://fansided.com/2022/08/23/albert-pujols-3-stats-cardinals-cubs/). 23 game against the Cubs), Pujols recorded a .472 batting average, a 1.608 OPS, seven home runs, 14 RBI, and 17 hits through 14 games. The record was previously held by Ted Williams, who did that back in 1960 at 41 years old. To the shock of no one, he has broken a record during this recent stretch of games. In the past week, he has been hitting home run after home run, drawing ever so closer to reaching the 700 mark of his career.

The Cardinals' Albert Pujols delivered three hits in the first two games of his final series at Wrigley, including his 58th homer against the Cubs.

The greatest player in Phillies history played more games against the Cubs (269) than any opponent, and it seemed like a lot more to Cubs pitchers — who gave up 78 home runs to Schmidt (.985 OPS). Before there were Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and 2018 Christian Yelich, there was this Hammerin’ fellow who made the drive from Milwaukee to clobber Cubs pitchers for home runs more often than he hit them anywhere else on the road (50 of his 87 against the Cubs coming at Wrigley). He went 28-4 with a 3.32 ERA and 11 complete games in 39 starts (plus a relief appearance) against them. Nobody liked facing Gooden with the Mets in the 1980s, but nobody had it worse than the Cubs — by far his most commonly defeated opponent. In fact, his 1.000 career OPS against the Cubs is higher than any other opponent — and he was even better at Wrigley (.342 with 54 homers and 1.077 OPS in 179 games. He was 13-0 with a 1.91 ERA and 12.4 strikeouts per 9 in 14 starts (plus a relief appearance). A career .305 hitter, Aaron hit .326 against the Cubs — including .337 at Wrigley. The Big Unit faced all 30 teams in a career split between the two leagues, and the only team to never beat him (minimum 2 decisions). And he especially loved Wrigley Field, where he hit more homers (50) than any other road park and where his 1.048 OPS was better than any other park he played, home, road or Yellowstone. “The dude was the best hitter in baseball,” Dempster said. “It was so much fun to battle against the guy,” Dempster said. Maybe this shouldn’t surprise anyone, but nobody has hit more home runs against the Cubs than the Giants’ inner-circle Hall of Famer (92).

The Cardinals' first baseman's homer was the only run in a 1-0 defeat of the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Monday.

There's no one on Earth hotter than Albert Pujols right now. In his last 10 games, Pujols is slugging 1.258. That is the second-highest mark of his career ...

The Cardinals are vying for a division title, which would be their first since 2019, and if they want to secure that title, they’ll have to realize that as hot as Pujols is right now, that DH spot would be best served with someone other than Pujols filling that role. Frankly, there just aren’t enough lefties on the plate and the Cardinals will likely opt for someone better against righties until the team clinches the NL Central, and that might not be for a long time. Keep Pujols on the bench in case the opposition brings in a lefty reliever, but that would mean only one or two at-bats for Pujols for several games in the immediate future. At the time of writing this though, the Cardinals had won eight in a row and nine of their last 10, while the Brewers had gone 5-5 in that same span. If Pujols had better numbers against right-handed pitchers this season, I’d feel more confident in saying the contrary, but as it stands, there is a line of righties waiting for the Cardinals that I can’t see Pujols penetrating. Both the Brewers and Dodgers have a plethora of southpaws on their staffs. At that point, we’re already a sixth of the way through the remainder of the season for St. The Cardinals have nine games left this season against the Pirates, eight against the Reds, and seven against the Cubs. The more likely scenario is that Pujols starts falling back to Earth more in line to where he was earlier in the season. I’ll try to look at every possibility of his prominence in the lineup in these final 41 games, but the main points of emphasis will be how soon the Cardinals secure a playoff spot and division title. So, if Pujols is going to reach 700 dongs, a hefty amount of lefties on the starting docket should be the first thing we look at. If they have nothing to play for other than playoff seeding, I’d imagine the Cardinals would give Pujols every chance they could offer for him to reach his milestone.

Montgomery got the last out on his 99th pitch of the evening, which means he threw a “Maddux,” described as a complete-game shutout with fewer than 100 pitches.

[June 5, 2017](https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN201706050.shtml), when there was also a 2:16 game, against the Marlins. [There have been only 12 MLB games this year](https://stathead.com/tiny/iITwE) that have gone 2:16 or shorter. That’s the fastest nine-inning game at Wrigley Field since He's he's the goat. If you throw seven innings and allow one run, as Smyly did, your team should win a vast majority of the time. TV coverage for both games will be via Marquee Sports Network. He's one of the greatest of all-time. This is also the most recent nine-inning complete game by any Cubs pitcher. the Cardinals, with only 81 pitches thrown. that’s the recap. Morel got to third on a throwing error, but was stranded. That’s pretty much everything significant that happened.