Although Albert Pujols was not in the starting lineup for the St. Louis Cardinals for their series finale against the Colorado Rockies on Thursday, he still made an impact.
In the bottom of the third inning, manager Oliver Marmol sent him to pinch hit for Brendan Donovan against former Cardinals lefty Austin Gomber.
With one swing of the bat, Pujols put the game out of reach, sending a grand slam over the left field wall for career home run No. 690.
Pujols is now 10 homers shy of 700 for his career.
On Twitter, former MLB pitcher CC Sabathia declared that Pujols getting to 700 home runs is something we desperately need to see.
We can all collectively agree that Pujols needs to hit 700.
— CC Sabathia (@CC_Sabathia) August 18, 2022
Pujols Closing In On 700
He isn’t wrong.
The way Pujols has been swinging the bat, he might just get to 700.
It would be a treat for not just Cardinals fans, but for baseball fans in general.
Pujols is one of the great ambassadors for the game of baseball and has been one of the best hitters in baseball ever since he came up in 2001.
He may just be the greatest right-handed hitter of all time.
But it would be a treat for everyone around baseball, including the fans to see Pujols reach 700 home runs.
It may be a bit of a reach, but it’s still possible and it’s something that everybody needs, as Sabathia alluded to, especially after two seasons marred by a pandemic and the work stoppage that followed.
The home run yesterday was Pujols’ 11th of the season.
He’s saving his best for last if he does end up with 700 home runs.
Everybody around the game of baseball will rejoice if Pujols reaches the mark.
We’ll see if he can get it done.