With San Diego Padres<\/a> third baseman Manny Machado<\/strong><\/a> joining the 2000 Hit Club<\/a> Monday night, speculation as to whether he\u2019ll join the more exclusive 3000 Hit Club is natural. There are 33 members of this club, and when it comes to Hall of Fame voting, the 3000 Hit Club is an \u201cautomatic\u201d milestone. Albert Pujols<\/a><\/strong> and Miguel Cabrera<\/a><\/strong> are not eligible yet but will make it easily. The other 3000 Hit Club members to not be voted in by the writers either got in trouble (Pete Rose<\/strong><\/a>) or had PED ties (Alex Rodriguez<\/a><\/strong>, Rafael Palmeiro<\/a><\/strong>). Machado is well on his way to joining this elite group, as are a few others. Surprisingly, there are 11 active players with a realistic chance to do it and eight \u201cmaybes.\u201d<\/p>\n Just as we did last time we published an article like this one, which was shortly after Freddie Freeman<\/a><\/strong> cracked his 2000th hit, we created a list using some math. When creating this list, we only included players in their tenth year or later. Anyone shy of 10 years went in the \u201ctoo early to tell\u201d category. Secondly, we\u2019re obviously assuming everyone stays healthy, so please leave that cop-out of an argument at the door.<\/p>\n If a player plays 20 seasons, then he\u2019ll get exactly 3000 hits by averaging 150 per year. Consequently, what we did for this list was project how many hits these players will have at the end of the 2025 season, based on his current pace. (Exact method is here.) Then we answered the following question: \u201cIf _________ averages 150 hits a year for the rest of his career, in what year will he reach 3000?\u201d<\/p>\n Next, we looked at how old he will be in that season. If his age was 42 or younger, we classified him as \u201crealistic.\u201d Five players came in at 43, so we called them \u201cmaybes.\u201d Age 44 or older was too remote for us to consider. Our reason: every member of the club except Cap Anson<\/a><\/strong> (45) and Ty Cobb<\/a><\/strong> (34) was in his late 30s or early 40s when he joined. Only Anson was older than 42, even.<\/p>\n To split up the \u201crealistic\u201d group, we classified any player whose age came up as 40 or lower as \u201clikely.\u201d (Again, we don\u2019t want to hear \u201cif he stays healthy.\u201d That is obvious.) And finally, if his current-year pace will give him fewer than 140 hits in 2025, we bumped him down one level. (\u201cLikely\u201d became \u201crealistic,\u201d and \u201crealistic\u201d became \u201cmaybe.\u201d)<\/p>\n We don\u2019t want to get bogged down, so here\u2019s the list. \u201cCurrent hit totals\u201d include everything up to the end of play Monday night, July 7, 2025. (For a more detailed explanation of our calculation methods, click here.)<\/em><\/p>\n Of active players, the top five in career hits all have 2000 or more. In order, they are Freeman (2358), Jose Altuve<\/a><\/strong> (2325), Andrew McCutchen<\/a><\/strong> (2226), Paul Goldschmidt<\/a><\/strong> (2148), and Machado (2001). The two oldest of the five are McCutchen (38) and Goldschmidt (37). When we last published predictions, at the pace McCutchen was going, he was not going to reach 3000 until he was 44. Since then, he has increased his production. Therefore, at their current paces, three of the active 2000 Hit Club members all have a likely chance of reaching 3000, and the other two are \u201cmaybes.\u201d<\/p>\n Given the parameters we set, two others are also \u201clikely,\u201d making five total. Additionally, there are six with a realistic chance of reaching 3000 and six more \u201cmaybes.\u201d Here they are, grouped by likelihood and listed in chronological order by the year they\u2019ll hit 3000 at the rate we set.<\/p>\n Freeman currently has 2358 hits and, at his current pace, will end the season at around 2435. Averaging 150 a year for the rest of his career will have him notching number 3000 in late 2029, when he\u2019ll be 39 or, if on or after September 12, 40.<\/p>\n Altuve joined the 2000 Hit Club August 19, 2023, against the Seattle Mariners and currently has 2323 hits. We project his year-end total to be 2394. If he averages 150 hits per year for the rest of his career, he will reach 3000 early in 2030. If it happens on or after May 6, he\u2019ll be 40.<\/p>\n Machado currently has 2001 hits, and we project he will have 2082 at year\u2019s end. The 150-hits-per-year pace will have him reach 3000 early in 2032, when he will be 39.<\/p>\n Bogaerts<\/strong><\/a> is on pace for 144 hits in 2025, which isn\u2019t quite 150, but he can easily make up the difference in a later year. 144 hits would give him 1837 for his career. The 150-per-year rate would get him to 3000 in late 2033, when he\u2019d be 40 or, if on or after October 1, 41.<\/p>\n Ramirez\u2019s former teammate and partner on the left side of the diamond is on pace for 166 hits in 2025, which would give him 1658 for his career. Averaging 150 hits per year beyond that would bring Lindor<\/a><\/strong> to 3000 in late 2034, when he\u2019ll be 40.<\/p>\n Castellanos<\/strong><\/a>\u2019 current pace to reach 166 hits in 2025 would bring him to 1771 for his career. An average of 150 hits per year for the rest of his career would get him to 3000 in early 2034, when he will be 42.<\/p>\n Betts<\/strong><\/a> is also on pace for 144 hits in 2025, which would give him 1759 for his career. At 150 hits per year, he would reach 3000 early in 2034, when he\u2019ll be 41.<\/p>\n Yelich<\/strong><\/a> is currently on a 151-hit pace for 2025. That would get him to 1741 career hits. An average of 150 hits per year in the coming seasons would get him to 3000 around mid-2034, when he will be 42.<\/p>\n To fans outside of Cleveland, did you know the Guardians have a great switch-hitting third baseman named Jose Ramirez<\/strong><\/a>? He is quietly putting together a nice career, finishing top-five in the AL MVP voting five times already. In 2024, he missed 40-40 by one home run, something completely overshadowed by Shohei Ohtani<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s 50-50 season.<\/p>\n Anyway, he is on pace for 177 hits in 2025, which would give him 1677. The 150-per-year pace would get him to 3000 toward the end of 2034. If it happens before September 17, he\u2019ll be 41; if it happens on or after September 17, he\u2019ll be 42.<\/p>\n The speedy Turner<\/strong><\/a> is also piling up hits in 2025, as he is currently both leading the NL and on pace for 196. That would get him to 1548 for his career. Continuing at an average of 150 hits per year would get Turner to 3000 in mid-2035, when he will be 42.<\/p>\n Stealing 19 bases per year over the same stretch would also get Turner to 500 career stolen bases. That would make him the eighth player in major league history to crack 3000 hits AND steal 500 bases. The seven current 3000-500 players are some guys you might have heard of: Rickey Henderson<\/a><\/strong>, Lou Brock<\/a><\/strong>, Ty Cobb, Eddie Collins<\/a><\/strong>, Honus Wagner<\/a><\/strong>, Ichiro Suzuki<\/a><\/strong>, and Paul Molitor<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Dodger fans, go pick up the shoe you just threw across the room and take some deep breaths on the way back to your chair. The Twins shortstop is on pace to end the season with 135 hits, which would bring him to 1285 for his career. We know, that isn\u2019t even halfway to 3000, but it is still a realistic milestone for Correa<\/strong><\/a>. An average of 150 hits per year would get him to 3000 in mid-2037, when he will be 42.<\/p>\n Now for the players that will need a lot to break in their favor and\/or would have to kick their production up to get to a 150-hit-per-year pace. There are seven players in this group \u2014 the Maybes.<\/p>\n McCutchen is on pace for 130 hits in 2025, which would give him 2282 at year\u2019s end. Increasing his hits-per-year production to 150 would get him to 3000 toward the end of 2030, when he will be 43.<\/p>\n Goldschmidt is on pace for 160 hits in 2025. That would give him 2216 for his career, and continuing at an average of 150 hits per year would make him 43 when reaching 3000 in early 2031.<\/p>\n Arenado<\/a><\/strong> is on pace to have 134 hits in 2025, which would give him 1960 for his career. He\u2019ll have to pick up the pace to get back to 150 per year, and doing so would have him reaching 3000 toward the end of 2032, when he will be 41.<\/p>\n Harper<\/strong><\/a> has missed 21 games due to injury this season, so we project him to end the year at 117. This would give him 1787 career hits at year\u2019s end, and 150 per year beyond that would get him to 3000 in early 2034, when he\u2019ll be 41.<\/p>\n Trout<\/strong><\/a> is hitting at a pace that would bring him to 110 for the season and bring him to 1758 for his career. An average of 150 hits per year from 2026 onward would get him to 3000 in early 2034, when he will be 42, but he would need quite a resurgence to increase his production from 110 to 150. Therefore, we dropped him from \u201crealistic\u201d to \u201cmaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n Marte<\/a> is on pace for 139 hits in 2025, and that would get him to 1276 for his career. Averaging 150 hits per year from 2026 onward would get him to 3000 in mid-2037, when he will be 43.<\/p>\n Bregman<\/strong><\/a> is also on pace to reach 3000 hits in mid-2037, when he would also be 43. If he returns from injury Thursday as the latest injury report suggests will happen, he will be on pace for 142 hits this season. That would get him to 1274. As we showed with Correa and Marte, 150 hits per year means reaching 3000 in mid-2037.<\/p>\nThe Method<\/h3>\n
“Likely”<\/h4>\n
Likely Future Members of the 3000 Hit Club<\/h3>\n
Freddie Freeman<\/h4>\n
Jose Altuve<\/h4>\n
Manny Machado<\/h4>\n
Xander Bogaerts<\/h4>\n
Francisco Lindor<\/h4>\n
Realistic (Possible?) Future Members of the 3000 Hit Club<\/h3>\n
Nick Castellanos<\/h4>\n
Mookie Betts<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Christian Yelich<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Jose Ramirez<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Trea Turner<\/h4>\n
Carlos Correa<\/h4>\n
“Maybes” \u2014 Longshots for the 3000 Hit Club<\/h3>\n
Andrew McCutchen<\/h4>\n
Paul Goldschmidt<\/h4>\n
Nolan Arenado<\/h4>\n
Bryce Harper<\/h4>\n
Mike Trout<\/h4>\n
Ketel Marte<\/h4>\n
Alex Bregman<\/h4>\n
Corey Seager<\/h4>\n