Major League Baseball

Will Miguel Cabrera be the last player to reach 3,000 hits?

Published Apr. 25, 2022 4:52 p.m. ET

Miguel Cabrera cemented his name into the baseball history books (again) by recording his 3,000th hit Saturday afternoon.

For Cabrera, the milestone single was just another addition to his decorated Hall of Fame résumé and the culmination of nearly two decades worth of hitting excellence.

And the baseball world, both young and old, gave the Tigers legend due praise with numerous tributes in-person and on Twitter.

Ben Verlander was part of that crowd.

A former 14th-round pick of the Tigers, Verlander got to know Cabrera on a personal level during his time in the Tigers' farm system. He described tears forming in his eyes as he watched Cabrera accomplish his rare feat.

And in Verlander's eyes, the achievement should be appreciated even more because it might never be done again.

"It needs to be known how big a deal this is," Verlander emphasized on "Flippin' Bats."

"This, in my opinion, could be the last time that we ever see a player get to 3,000 hits. I really dove into it. The game of baseball is forever changed. It's a different baseball game. Pitchers are dominant, everybody's throwing 100 mph.

"Then you start looking around the league as it is. Mike Trout — one of the greatest to ever do it — is almost 31 years old. He has 1,431 hits. If he stays healthy every single year and plays into his 40s, there's a chance. Jose Altuve is 31 already, he has 1,783 hits. Those guys are eight, nine years away from even being able to accomplish that. There's no way we see it for almost a decade. And there's a very good chance that we never see it again."

Why Miguel Cabrera might be the last 3,000-hit man

Ben Verlander dives into Detroit star Miguel Cabrera's amazing career after he became the 33rd player to notch 3,000 hits.

Verlander went on to laud the greatness that Cabrera's been able to sustain through his career.

"He's now the seventh person to have 3,000 hits and 500-plus home runs, joining Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Rafael Palmeiro, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols and Eddie Murray. On top of that, his career .300 batting average makes him the third to do all three, and he has the highest batting average of all of those. If you throw in his triple crown, he's the only one to ever do it.

"I was 14, 15 years old, and we were talking about hitting. He said he knows what the pitcher is going to throw before the pitcher even knows what he's going to throw. He'll set pitchers up, take a swing on a bad slider early in the game, knowing that the pitcher will go back to it later in the game, and he will destroy it. He's an icon in the game of baseball, and for the young Venezuelan players coming up, he was the greatest thing they could ever see."

We very well may not. Among active hitters, none are relatively close to reaching the threshold. Freddie Freeman has 1,722 at age 32, while Manny Machado sits at 1,445 at 29. Juan Soto may have the next best case at 23 years old. He currently has 500 career knocks.

The game is full of greenhorn talent, but right now, its spotlight belongs to the grizzled vet. And when it comes to the 3,000-hit mark, Cabrera's name will remain the last to reach it for years to come.