200 hits are difficult?

A couple of days ago, I saw a post on Facebook. The post showed a photo with the hits leader over the last few years. Those hits leaders are surely good batters in the majors. While seeing those players’ names and the number of hits, I’m thinking about a question.

Some of those batters collected 200+ hits in the season, but some hitters actually didn’t reach 200 hits in the season, which they became the hits leaders. And, that makes me think whether it’s been rare to see batters collect 200 hits in a single season.

Well, let’s take a look at the stats over the last 20 years. In 2003, Vernon Wells collected 215 hits, leading the majors. He had a great 2003 season, slashing .317/.359/.550 with 33 home runs and 117 RBI. At the same time, Albert Pujols and Ichiro Suzuki each had 212 hits in 2003. In total, 7 batters had at least 200 hits this year.

In 2004, Ichiro Suzuki had a tremendous season, slashing .372/.414/.455 with 8 HRs and 60 RBI. Most importantly, he collected 262 hits this season, which is now the record for the most hits of a single season. In the short-term, we might not see a batter reach this record. And, this season, there were 8 players who had at least 200 hits. The next season, Ichiro had 200+ hits again and two other players had 200+ hits as well.

In addition, Ichiro had 224 hits in 2006 and Michael Young had 217 hits. In the meantime, Derek Jeter and Miguel Tejada each had 214 hits this year. In total, there were 8 batters who had at least 200 hits in 2006. In 2007, things didn’t change much, Ichiro was the hits leader and he had 238 hits. In total, 8 players each had 200 hits or more.

However, the number dropped a bit in 2008. There were only 3 players who had 200+ hits. And, in 2009, the number went up just a little bit. 4 batters each had 200+ hits. But, the next year, only 2 players had at least 200 hits.

In 2011, Adrian Gonzalez and Michael Young led the majors with 213 hits. 3 other players each had 200+ hits as well. The next season, Derek Jeter and Miguel Cabrera were the only 2 players with 200+ hits. Nonetheless, in 2013, no players in the MLB reached 200 hits.

Finally, in 2014 and 2015, there were 2 players who collected 200+ hits each season. But, in 2016 and 2017, the number increased a bit. There were 4 players with 200+ hits each season. Nonetheless, in 2018, no one in the MLB had at least 200 hits. But, in 2019, 2 players reached 200 hits. Well, the 2020 season was a shortened season, it’s reasonable that no players reached 200 hits. However, over the last 2 seasons, the number of players who reached 200 hits in a single season was zero.

Collecting 200 hits isn’t easy. However, from 2003 to 2012, we could at least see some players reach 200 hits in a single season. But, since 2013, there have been several seasons that no player reached 200 hits in a single season. In particular, it’s actually been 2 seasons (162-game regular season) that we haven’t seen a player collect 200 hits. With the rule changes and more balls in play in 2023, how many players will finish the season with at least 200 hits?