NEW YORK -- Francisco Lindor on Monday became the 670th member of the 1,500-hit club, a milestone that¡¯s noteworthy mostly because of basic arithmetic. Reaching 1,500 puts Lindor midway to the much more hallowed ground of 3,000.
Although the latter plateau requires an uncommon combination of ability, health and longevity, Lindor can now consider himself one of the relative few to make it halfway there. In the Mets¡¯ 2-0 win over the Marlins, he singled three times, most notably bunting for a hit in the third inning and scoring the go-ahead run on a Juan Soto double.
Asked afterward what 1,500 hits means to him, Lindor initially shrugged off the accomplishment.
¡°It means I¡¯ve been in the big leagues for 10 years-plus,¡± he said, before going on to call the accomplishment ¡°special.¡±
Technically, this is Lindor¡¯s 11th year in the Majors. Not counting his abbreviated rookie season and the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, he has failed to record 150 hits just once, in 2021, when a midseason oblique strain exacerbated a rocky first year with the Mets. Otherwise, Lindor has proven exceptionally healthy and productive -- the first two ingredients toward reaching 3,000 hits.
That skill set has regularly allowed Lindor to submit games like the one he did Monday on another cold, damp night at Citi Field. Batting in the first inning, he singled up the middle. In the third, Lindor bunted and scored on Soto¡¯s double. Then in the fifth, he singled to left to record No. 1,500. It was the 29th three-hit game of Lindor¡¯s career, tied for 16th among active players.
¡°The biggest thing for me is going the other way with ease,¡± manager Carlos Mendoza said of Lindor¡¯s night.
Of course, recording 1,500 hits largely in a player¡¯s 20s tends to be easier than recording 1,500 more in his 30s. Lindor is 31 now, and while he hasn¡¯t yet been beset by aging muscles or slowing hands, time robs everyone of their skills in the end. There are only 33 members of the 3,000-hit club, meaning merely 5 percent of those who record 1,500 hits make it to the grander milestone -- one that all but guarantees enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.
It¡¯s getting harder, too, as velocity rises and pitchers become ever more advanced. Seven players reached 3,000 hits in the 1990s. Four did so in the 2000s, five in the 2010s and just one so far this decade -- Miguel Cabrera in 2022, with no one else on the short-term horizon. Over the past six seasons, the league-wide batting average has hovered between .239 and .248, a reduction of 20-30 points from where it routinely sat around the turn of the century.
Given all of those factors working against him, Lindor isn¡¯t likely to reach 3,000. Still, he has as good a chance as all but a handful of active players. He¡¯s currently the youngest in the game with 1,500 hits, though several others -- Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts and Mookie Betts, to name three -- are on quicker paces.
¡°You¡¯ve just got to continue to put your head down and climb the mountain,¡± Lindor said when asked about the prospect of reaching 3,000 hits. ¡°You can¡¯t let it get too big.¡±
For Lindor, a more realistic goal could be the Hall of Fame. He¡¯s well on pace to achieve that one, though it will require several more years of strong production into his mid-30s.
¡°I would love to be there one day, but it¡¯s still very far for me,¡± Lindor said, referencing the fact that modern-day stars like Carlos Beltr¨¢n and Jimmy Rollins have yet to reach Cooperstown.
¡°For me, the Hall of Fame, it¡¯s still farfetched. I would love to be there one day. It would be one of the biggest honors, if not the biggest honor of my career. But it¡¯s still a long way to go. I¡¯ve got to put my head down and work as hard as I can for however many years God¡¯s going to give me in this game.¡±