Albert Pujols hit a pair of two-run homers off of Oakland’s Kendall Graveman in last night’s Angels win. The second of those homers was number 612 of his career, which ties him with Jim Thome for seventh place on the all-time list.
Next up on the all-time list is Ken Griffey Jr., who has 630. As Pujols has 21 this year -- he’s on a pace for 25 --
Griffey should be reachable next season. Beyond that he has a way to go, with Willie Mays at 660 and Alex Rodriguez at 696.
Pujols is having a superficially good year in terms of power, with those projected 25 homers and a projected 100 RBI representing the sorts of stats that most people associate with strong production. It’s pretty empty power, however, as his overall line is .232/.278/.387. He’ll hit a homer if you make a mistake, and with Mike Trout hitting in front of him there’s often a guy on base, but he’ll do almost nothing else at this point.
Still, he’s under contract through 2021, so he’s likely to hit some more mistakes. If he stays healthy, at least for him, and if the Angels don’t release him, he has an outside chance to hit 700 homers.
