Derek Jeter's climb up the MLB hit list
Derek Jeter at Yankees media day during spring training. (Feb. 27, 2012) Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams, Jr.
Derek Jeter's 2011 season was characterized by his march toward 3,000 hits. For 2012, we can look at how far up the list he may climb.
Jeter recorded three hits in the opening series of the season at Tampa, and no, we're not going to use 1/54th of the season as a barometer for anything.
A more realistic analysis would be to look at his past five seasons.
| YEAR | G | PA | AB | H |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 156 | 714 | 639 | 206 |
| 2008 | 150 | 668 | 596 | 179 |
| 2009 | 153 | 716 | 634 | 212 |
| 2010 | 157 | 739 | 663 | 179 |
| 2011 | 131 | 607 | 546 | 162 |
| 5-year average | 149 | 689 | 616 | 188 |
| Career average as starter* | 151 | 694 | 614 | 192 |
* Jeter appeared in 15 games in 1995, and those numbers are not factored into his career averages listed above.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi has said several times in spring training and early this season that he plans to rest Jeter and Alex Rodriguez more than in the past to keep them fresh. Still, it's reasonable to expect Jeter to get close to 600 at-bats. And based on his career averages, and including an average decline based on age (Jeter turns 38 this June), it is also reasonable to project that Jeter can produce 175 hits assuming no injuries or stints on the disabled list.
Now, let's take a look at Major League Baseball's all-time hit list, through games of Sunday, April 8.
| RANK | PLAYER | HITS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pete Rose | 4,256 |
| 2 | Ty Cobb | 4,191 |
| 3 | Hank Aaron | 3,771 |
| 4 | Stan Musial | 3,630 |
| 5 | Tris Speaker | 3,514 |
| 6 | Carl Yastrzemski | 3,419 |
| 7 | Honus Wagner | 3,415 |
| 8 | Paul Molitor | 3,319 |
| 9 | Eddie Collins | 3,315 |
| 10 | Willie Mays | 3,283 |
| 11 | Eddie Murray | 3,255 |
| 12 | Nap Lajoie | 3,242 |
| 13 | Cal Ripken Jr. | 3,184 |
| 14 | George Brett | 3,154 |
| 15 | Paul Waner | 3,152 |
| 16 | Robin Yount | 3,142 |
| 17 | Tony Gwynn | 3,141 |
| 18 | Dave Winfield | 3,110 |
| 19 | Derek Jeter | 3,091 |
Again, based on the 175-hit assumption for 2012, Jeter would finish the season with 3,263 hits, putting him in 11th place overall.
Learn more about Jeter's hits in our Derek Jeter hit list database, which we launched during the DJ3K pursuit last season and will continue to update for the rest of his career.
More MLB news
