Albert Pujols Home Run Record Tracker: How to Watch As He Chases 700
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Pujols's return to the Cardinals for a final season could put him in the records books as he approaches 700 career home runs.
Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY Sports
Albert Pujols hit his 700th career home run off Dodgers pitcher Phil Bickford on Friday night, becoming just the fourth player in league history to do so.
His push for this milestone is mostly thanks to a 38-game stretch, beginning July 10 through Saturday, in which he slammed 12 homers across 119 plate appearances. Prior to that, he had just four home runs over 148 plate appearances in his first 47 games. His .803 slugging percentage last month led all MLB players with at least 60 plate appearances.
Only three other MLB players have hit 700 career home runs: the first was Babe Ruth, who reached it in 1934 and retired with 714, followed by Henry Aaron in ’73. Aaron passed Ruth the next season and finished his career with 755. In ’04, Barry Bonds became the most recent member of the 700-club and is the current leader, with 762.
In 2010, Pujols became the first player ever to hit 400 home runs over his first 10 seasons. At that point, he looked like a pretty safe bet to reach 700. He was only 30 years old and had showed no signs of slowing down. He launched 37 dingers in ’11, the final season of his first stint with the Cardinals, and then signed a 10-year, $240-million deal the Angels. That’s when his decline began.
He was still a reliable home run hitter during his first five seasons in Los Angeles—he averaged 29 per year in that span, which includes his 40-homer season in ’15—but his overall production was slipping. By that point, his career total was 591 and he had five years left on his Angels contract. If he averaged just 20 per year (not an unreasonable expectation for him at the time) he would reach 700 before his deal expired. Instead, from ’16–21, he averaged 18 homers.
His age, injuries and the pandemic-shortened ’20 season hurt his chances, and he was playing so poorly over the first month or so of last season that the Angels released him in early May. The Dodgers signed him later that month and played to the one strength that he still had: crushing left-handed pitchers. Used mostly as a platoon player, Pujols hit 12 homers with the Dodgers, to finish the ’21 season with 17 and a career total of 679.
The Cardinals signed him to a one-year deal in late March. They planned to use him as a platoon player, just as the Dodgers had, hoping he could improve their lineup and mentor young hitters. At a minimum, it would be a nice way for a franchise icon to end his career. St. Louis certainly didn’t expect him to be one of the more productive hitters in the National League and make a legitimate push at the milestone that once seemed like a lock.
Pujols has said this season will be his last, even if he gets to 700. Here’s how you can watch the final games Pujols’s legendary career and follow along with his home run chase
Current career home-run count: 700
Current season home-run count: 21
Current season pace: 23
Team Games left: 10
What’s left on the schedule
All times ET. Watch Albert Pujols and the Cardinals live with fuboTV.
Three-game away series against the Pittsburgh Pirates
TV coverage: Bally Sports Midwest, MLB Network (out-of-market)
Two-game home series against the Milwaukee Brewers
Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 7:45 p.m.
TV coverage: Bally Sports Midwest
Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 7:45 p.m.
TV coverage: Bally Sports Midwest, FS1
Five-game home series against the Cincinnati Reds
Thursday, Sept. 15 at 7:45 p.m.
TV coverage: Bally Sports Midwest
Friday, Sept. 16 at 8:15 p.m.
TV coverage: Bally Sports Midwest
Saturday, Sept. 17 at 1:15 p.m. (makeup from July 17)
TV coverage: Bally Sports Midwest
Saturday, Sept. 17 at 7:15 p.m.
TV coverage: Bally Sports Midwest
Sunday, Sept. 18 at 2:15 p.m.
TV coverage: Bally Sports Midwest
Three-game away series against the San Diego Padres
Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 9:40 p.m.
TV coverage: Bally Sports Midwest, MLB Network (out-of-market)
Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 9:40 p.m.
TV coverage: Bally Sports Midwest, MLB Network (out-of-market)
Thursday, Sept. 22 at 4:10 p.m.
TV coverage: Bally Sports Midwest, MLB Network (out-of-market)
Three-game away series against the Los Angeles Dodgers
Friday, Sept. 23 at 10:10 p.m.
TV coverage: Apple TV+
Saturday, Sept. 24 at 9:10 p.m.
TV coverage: Bally Sports Midwest
Sunday, Sept. 25 at 4:10 p.m.
TV coverage: Bally Sports Midwest
Two-game away series against the Milwaukee Brewers
Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 7:40 p.m.
TV coverage: Bally Sports Midwest, MLB Network (out-of-market)
Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 7:40 p.m.
TV coverage: Bally Sports Midwest
Three-game home series against the Pittsburgh Pirates
Friday, Sept. 30 at 8:15 p.m.
TV coverage: Bally Sports Midwest
Saturday, Oct. 1 at 7:15 p.m.
TV coverage: Bally Sports Midwest
Sunday, Oct. 2 at 2:15 p.m.
TV coverage: Bally Sports Midwest
Three-game away series against the Pittsburgh Pirates
Monday, Oct. 3 at 5:35 p.m.
TV coverage: Bally Sports Midwest
Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 6:35 p.m.
TV coverage: Bally Sports Midwest
Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 4:05 p.m.
TV coverage: Bally Sports Midwest
