Miami Marlins RTD 3/28: Ozuna, Ichiro,

MLB.com had a feature on this early in the offseason, but consider this our office pool.  When does Ichiro get to 3000?

Sean Millerick: This is tougher than I’d have liked…because he’s been terrible this spring.  Last year he hit .286 in March, compared to just .206 this time around; he also has eight more strikeouts presently than last year, and that’s with eight less at-bats.  However, if anyone’s earned the benefit of the doubt, it’s Ichiro.  I’ll be pessimistic and say before the Trade Deadline- someone will get hurt and give him the at-bats.

Thomas Ghebrezgi: So, I probably overthought this, but here goes! On his career, Ichiro averages a hit per 3 plate appearances. That average last season moved up to about 4, meaning he got a hit in 1 out of every 4 plate appearances. Assuming that goes up to 5ish considering the rust from not playing that often in 2016, I figure it would take him anywhere from 260-320 plate appearances. I don’t know if he gets that much playing time with the Marlins. If they’re out of contention late and they move Ozuna, maybe they give Ichiro enough playing time to get 3000. Either way, dude’s a legend in my book. Easy hall of famer. The 3000 number seems kind of arbitrary.  

Eddie Noy: September 15. Marlins will be out of it by June and someone in the outfield will pull a hammy. Ichiro will try to slap every pitch from here to Kobe to get to #3,000, and I’ll be rooting for him every hit of the way. Go, go, go Ichiro! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZpfuV51kOE    

Max Phillips: Needing 65 hits to reach the elusive 3000 hit mark, this one is going to come down to the wire. For purposes of wanting him to do it in a Marlins uniform, I’d say he claws in out in late September with a 4-4 game; no big deal for him.  

Eric Quiñones: I believe that Ichiro gets his 3000th hit sometime in September. If every starting outfielder stays healthy for the Fish, Ichiro won’t get as many starts as he did last season. He will get spot starts here and there, but a lot of his work will be done as a pinch hitter, which is why I believe that Ichiro will get his 3000th hit in September.  

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