If you combine his MLB stats with his stats in Japan, Miami Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki has a total of 4,213 career hits. Those 4,213 hits would place him just 52 away from tying baseball’s all-time hits leader Pete Rose. He would pass Ty Cobb for second all-time with that mark as well.

Unfortunately, Ichiro won’t get his Japan stats added onto his MLB stats, but he does have a great chance at getting a very nice consolation prize in 2016. He is 65 hits away from becoming just the 29th player in MLB history to reach the 3,000 hit plateau.

Ichiro turned 42 in October, and his age 41 season he was able to get a hit 91 times out of 398 at-bats. While that’s a .229 batting average, you can bet that Suzuki will get 65 hits as long as the Marlins give him the right amount of at-bats in 2016.

Baseball Reference has Ichiro getting 103 hits in 2016, which would be the 14th time in his career he would land a 100-plus hit season, and Dan Szymborski’s ZiPS projections have Ichiro getting 86 hits and batting .249/.294/.304 for what it’s worth.

If you average out both of those projections, Ichiro is projected to get 94 hits this year, and that would be a great way to end his storied career off, because I don’t see a 42-year-old doing much more to be honest.

Thank you for everything, Ichiro. If 2016 is indeed your final season whether or not you get 3,000 hits.

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