After Pujols and Cabrera, who will lead MLB batting records?

Bradford Doolittle, David Schoenfield and David Wojciechowski are the next two players to break the MLB batting records.

Bradford Doolittle, David Schoenfield and David Wojciechowski are the current MLB batting leaders.

Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera are retiring. ESPN MLB experts Bradford Doolittle and David Schoenfield predict who will reach the 500 home runs, 3,000 hits and 2,00 RBIs next. They use Bill James' "favorite toy" tool to predict the likelihood of each player hitting these milestones.

Mike Trout is on a career trajectory to reach the 500-homer club. He has a 16% chance of reaching 600. This will be the sixth straight season in which he plays 140 or fewer games. He is also becoming a more prolific home run hitter. The 30-year-old is still only 30 years old.

Manny Machado is closing in on 300 home runs. Austin Riley is a good all-around hitter. He might get to 40 home Runs this season. He's just entering his prime seasons at 25. His power-plus hitting means he can eventually age over to first base. It's possible he could reach 500.

Machado is closing in on 300 home runs. He has been remarkably durable, playing 153-plus games every season except the COVID-19 season.

After Pujols and Cabrera, who will lead MLB batting records? Schoenfield: Trout.

After Pujols and Cabrera, who will lead MLB batting records? Doolittle doesn't see anyone beating Trout.

Mike Trout is signed through 2030. Julio Rodriguez is going to be the one to break the 600-homer barrier.

After Pujols and Cabrera, who will lead MLB batting records? Doolittle: Trout. Aaron Judge might be his pick if he were younger. Sammy Sosa once put up 243 homers from his age-29 to his 32nd season.

After Pujols and Cabrera, who will lead MLB batting records?

After Pujols and Cabrera, who will lead MLB batting records? Doolittle thinks Mike Trout is the most likely.

Freddie Freeman is playing his 12th full season in the majors. He's hitting .310 with a .341 BABIP and a 17% strikeout rate. Freeman will hit 2000 hits during the first half of next season.

Trea Turner is second in the NL in hits this season. He didn't play 100 games for the first time until his age-25 season, and he will need almost 2000 hits in his 30s to get there. Ichiro got 2,080 hits and played 159 games per season in 30 years.

Schoenfield predicts 500 home runs and 3,000 hits for Manny Machado. Machad's seasonal hit rates aren't spectacular, but he might hit .300 this season and he's closing in on 1,600 career hits. Ripken Jr. had 1.552 hits through age-29.

After Pujols and Cabrera, Freeman will lead MLB batting records. Altuve could still get there, but his pace has slowed.

After Pujols and Cabrera, who will lead MLB batting records? Schoenfield doesn't see any active players getting there. Michael Harris II is 21 and already showing the ability to hit for average.

After Pujols and Cabrera, who will lead MLB batting records? Doolittle doesn't think Freeman has enough time to get there. Machado could do it, but he won't hit for average enough.

Machado has the best combination of factors to get to 2,000 career RBIs. He's just 30 and should play in a high-powered lineup for the foreseeable future. Cabrera has said he plans to return in 2023 for his 21st major league season.

After Pujols and Cabrera, who will lead MLB batting records? Only five players have gotten here. Julio Rodriguez is a long-shot guess.

Paul Goldschmidt has raised his game to a high level this season. He has averaged 105 RBIs over 162 games throughout his career.

Arenado is back to being where he was in terms of hitting for average in 2019. He should continue to play in strong lineups in St. Louis. After Pujols and Cabrera, who will lead MLB batting records?

Julio could follow Tom Brady's diet and do Subway commercials.

After Pujols and Cabrera, who will lead MLB batting records? Maybe Fernando Tatis III.