Milestones that might be reached during the 2023 MLB season

Yankees' slugger Giancarlo Stanton has a few nice round numbers ahead of him that he should easily be able to obtain in 2023. Most notably, Stanton is currently sitting on 378 career home runs, and he's never finished with fewer than 22 in any healthy season. Only 57 big leaguers have eclipsed the 400-homer plateau, and at only 33 years old Stanton should catapult much higher on the list before his career is over. Additionally, he's knocked in 971 runs during his career, and while 1,000 RBI is not an exclusive club, it's not an insignificant number either. Stanton also needs 28 more doubles to reach 300. 

The undisputed best player of his generation, Angels' superstar Mike Trout, is going to be remembered as one of the all-time greats when his career is over, but luckily for us, that shouldn't come anytime soon. Trout is already in rare company thanks to his three MVP awards, and before 2023 is over, he could hit some pretty noteworthy milestones. The 31-year-old has belted 350 Major League home runs, so while it will take a monster season, 400 is potentially in reach, especially when you consider he hit 40 last year in only 119 games. Trout also needs 104 RBI to reach 1,000, which could become a September storyline if he's healthy all year. While both of those numbers won't come until late in the season, if at all, Trout sits just four doubles short of 300 and could potentially accomplish that in the season's first week. 

While Stanton and Trout have their sights set on 400 home runs, Cardinals' third baseman Nolan Arenado is seeking to get past 300, and his pursuit of that number will be anticlimactic. The veteran needs just one long ball to get there and could conceivably do that on opening day. He should also reach 1,000 RBI early in the season, as he's currently sitting on 968. 

Historically, reaching the 3,000-hit plateau has been essentially a golden ticket to Cooperstown, and while no active player is close enough to reach that number in 2023, Dodgers' first baseman Freddie Freeman could potentially get there eventually. For now, Freeman's sights are set on making it 2/3 of the way, as he stands 97 hits shy of 2,000. The 33-year-old also needs just eight homers in '23 to reach 300, and 59 RBI would get him to 1,100.

Veteran outfielder Andrew McCutchen broke into the big leagues shortly before Freddie Freeman, and, thus, is coming up on almost all of the same milestones. McCutchen is slightly ahead of Freeman in hits and needs only 52 to reach the nice round number of 2,000. He also needs 13 homers to get to 300, and he'll reach 400 doubles with just eight more two-baggers. McCutchen reached 1,000 RBI late last September, and in a cool development signed back in Pittsburgh in free agency this winter, returning to the city that made him a star. 

Phillies' star Bryce Harper may well rewrite a lot of history books before his playing career is over, but at just 30 years old he'll still be entertaining fans in the City of Brotherly Love for the better part of the next decade. Harper's 2023 season will get off to a delayed start as he recovers from offseason Tommy John surgery, but when he gets back on the field he should hit a couple nice round numbers. To date the left-handed slugger has belted 285 Major League home runs making getting to 300 this season inevitable. He also needs only two doubles to reach 300, and while this one could be tough given that he won't start the season on time, Harper is currently 87 runs short of 1,000. 

Manny Machado was already one of the best players in baseball before signing with the Padres ahead of the 2019 season, and in southern California he's become nothing short of a rockstar. Machado's arrival essentially signified the beginning of a new era for the Padres, who have now spent more than any other team in an effort to bring star power and championships to Petco Park. In spring training, Machado expressed his intention to opt out of his contract after this season, a sentiment that become mute when the Padres signed him to a massive eleven-year extension. The 30-year-old will undoubtedly reach numerous career milestones during his tenure in San Diego, but in 2023 the only noteworthy one he'll hit will be 300 career home runs, as he stands just 17 shy at the moment. 

Yankees' first baseman Anthony Rizzo is in a very similar position when it comes to reaching milestones in the upcoming season as the aforementioned Machado. Like Machado, Rizzo has hit 283 career home runs in the big leagues, and after crushing 32 for the Bombers a season ago you'd have to figure he'll easily power his way to 300 in the upcoming campaign. An outside statistic Rizzo could reach a round number in is RBI, as right now he's 111 short of 1,000. Accomplishing that would arguably take the best season of his career, however, as his personal high is 109, a number he reached two years in a row in '16 and '17. 

The Cardinals are blessed with the most dynamic corner infield combination in baseball, with first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and the earlier-mentioned Nolan Arenado. The 35-year-old Goldschmidt eclipsed the 300-homer plateau last season, and in 2023 will try to reach a few other nice round numbers. With 18 more doubles he'll land at 400, and 58 more RBI will get him to 1,100. 

It's far from a secret that Dodgers' lefty Clayton Kershaw is going to be remembered as the best pitcher of his generation and already has a plaque in Cooperstown waiting for him. Anything he does from here on out will just pad an already impressive resume, and some legitimately noteworthy numbers are within his reach in 2023. Right now, Kershaw is just three wins short of 200, a number that is still impressive even as the pitcher-win statistic has lost some of its luster in the analytics era. A number that is perhaps even more impressive is Kershaw's career strikeout total. The southpaw has registered 2,807 punchouts in his career which is already good for 24th on the all-time list. With 193 more in '23 he'll reach 3,000, a number only 19 big league pitchers have reached. 

During most of last season it was assumed longtime St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright would retire alongside his battery mate, Yadier Molina, when the year concluded. The veteran righty ultimately had a change of heart and decided to return for an 18th big league season, and it's fair to wonder if the carrot of a nice round number had something to do with that. Wainwright needs just five more victories to reach 200, which would be a nice feather in his cap at the end of a tremendous career. 

Since the start of the 2019 season no Major Leaguer has crushed more homers than Mets' first baseman Pete Alonso, who has also won two home run derbies and at one point publicly anointed himself as the premier power hitter in the sport. Entering 2023 Alonso has crushed 146 long balls in three full seasons plus the pandemic truncated '20 campaign. With 54 big flies this season, Alonso would reach 200, which isn't a noteworthy number on its own, but it would be incredibly impressive if the Polar Bear were to get there in such a short amount of time. 

Last October had to feel especially sweet for Astros' second baseman Jose Altuve. In the wake of Houston's sign-stealing cheating scandal Altuve, like the rest of the Astros' core, had been eviscerated in the court of public opinion and heard time and time again that the team's World Series win in 2017 was invalid. The Astros run to a second World Series championship last season alleviated some of the doubts about how good this team truly is, and Altuve is certainly front and center when it comes to making this engine go. Entering 2023 the veteran is sitting on 1,935 big league hits, so reaching 2,000 in the months ahead is a matter of if, not when. He's also 21 doubles short of 400, and for further proof of the unprecedented power display the aforementioned Pete Alonso has been putting on, Altuve needs eight homers to reach 200 in what will be his 12th season in the big leagues. A broken finger will keep him out for the first two months of the season. 

Righty Craig Kimbrel is already going to be remembered as one of the best closers in baseball history, and after signing with Philadelphia this winter he could vault himself into rare company in 2023. At the moment Kimbrel is 7th on the all-time saves list with 394, and while the Phillies' closer role is up for grabs in spring training, if he can take the job and run with it he could conceivably run down some of the names in front of him. Billy Wagner converted 422 saves during his career and John Franco reached 424. Does Kimbrel have 31 saves in him in 2023 to cement his place in the top five all-time?

The Padres are quite obviously emphatically in a win-now mode, and a large portion of their championship aspirations hang on the right arm of 36-year-old Yu Darvish, who has been every bit the dominant ace he was expected to be when he left Japan for the Major Leagues in 2012. This season the veteran should be able to reach some exciting career numbers, as he needs just five wins to register 100 in the big leagues--to go along with the 93 victories he earned in the JPPL. Darvish also needs 212 strikeouts to reach 2,000, which is admittedly a huge single-season number, but one he's already exceeded four times. 

Veteran southpaw Wade Miley has never been considered a star and has been selected to only one all-star team during his 12-year big league career. The 36-year-old just struggled through a disappointing injury-plagued season with the Cubs in 2022, before joining the Brewers in free agency, but in Milwaukee he'll be able to reach a pretty cool personal milestone. Miley enters '23 with 99 big league wins on his ledger, and he'll reach triple digits early this season. 

Zack Greinke has been one of the best-starting pitchers for almost two decades, and he'll assuredly find himself enshrined in the Hall of Fame when he's done. Entering this season Greinke is in a similar boat to his former teammate in Los Angeles, Clayton Kershaw. The right-hander is currently just 75 strikeouts ahead of Kershaw, and ranks 20th on the all-time list. With 118 punchouts, he'll reach the impressive number of 3,000, and then it will just become a matter of how much higher he can climb. 

Yankees' ace Gerrit Cole has been one of baseball's best starting pitchers for several years now, and he's the man New York is counting on to lead them to their elusive 28th championship. While Cole clearly has lofty expectations for both himself and his team in 2023, on a personal note he needs just 70 strikeouts to reach 2,000, which will be an impressive achievement at just 32 years old. 

Terry Francona is one of the most accomplished big league managers in history, and has succeeded in every one of his three stops. Francona has accumulated 1,874 managerial wins between Philadelphia, Boston, and Cleveland, but he's closing in on a bit of a fun milestone. Francona has been ejected from 47 contests during his career, and if he loses his temper three times in 2023 he'll become just the 25th skipper to be booted from 50 or more games. 

Veteran closer Kenley Jansen enters 2023 in almost an identical situation to that of the earlier mentioned Craig Kimbrel. As noted in the Kimbrel slide, he's currently 7th on the all-time save list, but right behind him in 8th is Jansen who trails Kimbrel by only three saves. The righty joined the Red Sox in free agency this winter, and while Kimbrel is going to have to earn the closer's spot in Philly this spring, Jansen doesn't face any such competition. He'll also try to chase down Billy Wagner and John Franco in the upcoming campaign, in an effort to further cement his legacy as one of the best stoppers of all time. 

Veteran Elvis Andrus was once considered one of the elite shortstops in the game, but he struggled in the pandemic-shortened season in Texas and then followed that up with a disappointing year-and-a-half showing in Oakland. Andrus did appear to be rejuvenated when he landed in the Windy City with the White Sox midway through 2022 and entering this season he's actually expected to start every day for the White Sox at second base. That should at least give him a chance to reach some pretty big round numbers. Andrus needs only three hits to join the 2,000-hit club, and while it's a long shot, 40 doubles would get him to 400. 

University of Arizona product Mark Melancon has been a good relief pitcher for nine big league teams during his 14-year career, though it is relevant to note that the 37-year-old suffered through one of the worst seasons of his career in Arizona in 2022. Entering this year the right-hander has 262 Major League saves on his resume, putting him in potential striking distance of 300. He's converted 38 or more saves on three separate occasions during his career. 

Righty Sonny Gray has had an up-and-down Major League career. He's gone from one of the best starters in baseball while with the A's early in his career, to being eaten up by the New York spotlight while with the Yankees, to re-establishing himself in the calmer Cincinnati market. Prior to last season Gray landed in Minnesota in an off-season trade, and he pitched well for the Twins, but was bit by the injury bug, something that has been a problem for him in the past as he's made 30 starts in a season only three times in 10 years. The Vanderbilt product currently has 90 career victories and would love to reach triple digits in the upcoming campaign.