Pierre Sanchez:
We come now to the last of the Hall of Famers who established themselves in the years 2013-2022. Pierre Sanchez was the first overall pick in the 2017 draft, taken by Hartford. By 2019, Sanchez had entrenched himself as Hartford's starting 1B. He had quality seasons in 2020, '21, and '22, displaying solid doubles and homerun power, and good batting average skills. But Hartford in those days tended to be a mediocre team, and when Sanchez hit the free agent market, he headed for a Nashville team that seemed to be on the rise, having just lost the World Series in 2022. It would be a match made in heaven. Sanchez made his first All Star team in 2023, and wouldn't miss the midsummer classic again until 2037. Nashville, meanwhile, made their second straight World Series appearance, but lost again, though not due to any nonperformance by Sanchez- he slugged .711 in the playoffs.
As the '20s progressed, Sanchez's numbers began to rise dramatically. His doubles totals rose from 40 per year to 50 per year, and occasionally higher. His homerun totals jumped from the mid-20's into the 30's, and occasionally higher. Once an occasional .300 hitter, it became an annual accomplishment. He reduced his strikeout totals to almost unbelieably low numbers. More homeruns than strikeouts became the norm. Nashville benefited greatly from Sanchez's exploits, winning the division in each of the first 4 years of Sanchez's tenure, and again in 2029, 2031, 2034, and 2036. In 2025 and 2031, they won the World Series. In addition to 2023, they also reached and lost the '26, '34, and '36 World Series.
Sanchez had become one of the greatest players in the league during the '20s and '30s. He won the Silver Slugger in 2027 and 2032. Both years, he led in two of the three Triple Crown categories, missing out in 2027 by .010 batting average points, and in 2032 by 18 homeruns. His 157 runs scored in 2027 remains a league record today. In 2032, his 70 doubles set a single season league record that went unmatched until Green Bay's Harry Bassett tied it in 2081. Both the 157 runs scored and 70 doubles are Nashville team records, as are his 235 hits in 2032.
Interestingly enough, both his 3,000th hit(2034) and his 500th homerun(2035) came off of the same pitcher: Knoxville's George Saez. Saez was a pretty bad relief pitcher who had 7+ ERA's in both of those seasons.
In 2036, Sanchez passed Hector Abad to become the all time hit leader. He, and two other players, also passed Cody Newport to move atop the all time doubles list. In 2037, Sanchez passed Abad to become the all time RBI leader. When Sanchez ended his career following the 2038 season, he ranked 1st all time in hits, 10th in homeruns, 1st in RBI, 2nd in doubles(he had been passed up that season), 5th in triples, and 2nd in runs scored. He was passed up on the RBI list the following season, but remained the all time hit leader until being passed in the 2053 season. Today, Sanchez ranks 4th all time in hits, 8th in RBIs, 3rd in doubles, 9th in triples, and 3rd in runs scored. Truly, I think, Pierre Sanchez was one of the all time greats.
Sanchez's stats:
Code:
Career Batting Stats
Year G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS Teams
2017 9 17 7 1 1 1 2 4 1 1 0 0 .412 .444 .765 1.209 HAR
2018 112 155 41 4 1 7 29 29 15 41 0 0 .265 .329 .439 .768 HAR
2019 149 438 111 25 4 14 75 80 43 97 0 0 .253 .320 .425 .745 HAR
2020 119 471 147 31 4 22 72 89 40 100 0 0 .312 .366 .535 .901 HAR
2021 96 391 120 39 0 16 71 62 36 75 1 1 .307 .365 .529 .895 HAR
2022 157 591 166 42 2 20 90 97 52 111 1 3 .281 .339 .460 .799 HAR
2023 151 589 165 42 5 25 107 111 44 123 0 0 .280 .330 .496 .826 NAS,AL
2024 134 551 185 46 4 27 101 128 56 107 4 1 .336 .397 .581 .978 NAS,AL
2025 159 663 200 47 10 27 118 126 59 71 1 4 .302 .359 .525 .884 NAS,AL
2026 159 668 206 54 9 39 123 118 59 38 4 6 .308 .365 .591 .956 NAS,AL
2027 154 628 226 57 9 52 147 157 70 28 1 5 .360 .424 .728 1.152 NAS,AL
2028 156 603 195 42 5 39 118 119 56 28 1 5 .323 .381 .604 .985 NAS,AL
2029 155 642 209 61 7 34 126 114 44 37 4 7 .326 .369 .601 .970 NAS,AL
2030 154 614 192 51 7 45 150 139 59 35 4 6 .313 .373 .638 1.011 NAS,AL
2031 158 635 184 55 6 33 119 128 59 28 1 2 .290 .350 .551 .901 NAS,AL
2032 156 621 235 70 5 32 145 147 74 31 2 9 .378 .445 .662 1.106 NAS,AL
2033 157 609 189 39 6 34 127 109 55 31 1 7 .310 .367 .562 .929 NAS,AL
2034 154 612 191 44 4 35 112 120 72 38 0 7 .312 .385 .569 .953 NAS,AL
2035 156 617 203 51 12 23 125 116 58 41 1 7 .329 .387 .562 .949 NAS,AL
2036 162 698 201 54 13 30 131 126 43 43 4 4 .288 .329 .532 .861 NAS,AL
2037 65 205 68 15 2 3 35 35 13 22 0 1 .332 .372 .468 .840 NAS
2038 14 37 6 2 1 0 6 4 5 12 0 0 .162 .262 .270 .532 ATL KC
Total 2886 11055 3447 872 117 558 2129 2158 1013 1138 30 75 .312 .370 .563 .933
Career Minor League Batting Stats
Year G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
2017, AAA 133 527 149 17 0 34 94 87 55 120 9 12 .283 .346 .509 .854
2038, AAA 43 180 42 11 0 1 13 20 7 26 5 2 .233 .258 .311 .569
Career Postseason Batting Stats
Year G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
2023 11 45 15 6 1 3 10 7 4 6 0 0 .333 .388 .711 1.099
2024 7 29 9 1 0 3 9 5 1 1 1 0 .310 .333 .655 .989
2025 11 44 10 4 1 2 9 8 5 2 0 0 .227 .306 .500 .806
2026 9 38 11 5 0 0 3 6 2 2 0 0 .289 .325 .421 .746
2029 4 14 5 2 0 1 3 4 2 0 0 0 .357 .438 .714 1.152
2031 10 43 12 1 0 1 4 8 4 1 0 0 .279 .340 .372 .713
2034 11 48 21 3 0 5 14 12 5 6 0 1 .438 .491 .813 1.303
2036 10 44 11 7 0 1 6 9 2 3 1 1 .250 .283 .477 .760
Total 73 305 94 29 2 16 58 59 25 21 2 2 .308 .361 .574 .934
Player History
Drafted in 1st round, 1st overall pick, by Hartford in 2017...
Had first career hit on 9/3/2017, off Joel Velasquez (HAR)...
Hit first career homerun on 9/27/2017, off Christopher Harrison (POR)...
Injured on 5/22/2020 with a Strained Posterior Cruciate Ligament, out for 7 weeks...
Had 5 hits with 1 RBI against Sacramento on 9/14/2020...
Injured on 5/2/2021 with a Bruised Heel, out for one week...
Won Player of the Week award on 6/2/2021, hitting .579 with 3 HR, 6 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/4/2021, hitting .484 with 2 HR, 9 RBI...
Injured on 8/5/2021 with a Fractured Knee, out for 8-9 weeks...
Had 22-game hitting streak snapped on 4/7/2022...
Won Player of the Week award on 9/8/2022, hitting .500 with 2 HR, 9 RBI...
Signed as a free agent by Nashville on 2/1/2023 to a 3-year deal worth $7,172,500 per year...
Was selected to the 2023 Allstar game...
Drove in 6 runs against Tucson on 9/15/2023...
Had 5 hits with 2 RBI against Memphis on 4/15/2024...
Was selected to the 2024 Allstar game...
Drove in 6 runs against Knoxville on 4/7/2025...
Won Player of the Week award on 4/14/2025, hitting .478 with 3 HR, 15 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 7/1/2025, hitting .318 with 5 HR, 22 RBI...
Was selected to the 2025 Allstar game...
Won World Series with Nashville in 2025...
Won Player of the Week award on 4/14/2026, hitting .480 with 4 HR, 7 RBI...
Was selected to the 2026 Allstar game...
Was selected to the 2027 Allstar game...
Won Batter of the Month award on 8/1/2027, hitting .455 with 12 HR, 30 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/18/2027, hitting .517 with 2 HR, 5 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 9/1/2027, hitting .448 with 10 HR, 30 RBI...
Won Silver Slugger Award in 2027, hitting .360 with 52 HR, 147 RBI...
Was selected to the 2028 Allstar game...
Won Batter of the Month award on 10/1/2028, hitting .385 with 9 HR, 23 RBI...
Had 5 hits with 4 RBI against Grand Rapids on 6/12/2029...
Had 5 hits with 3 RBI against Washington on 6/16/2029...
Won Batter of the Month award on 7/1/2029, hitting .358 with 5 HR, 27 RBI...
Was selected to the 2029 Allstar game...
Had 5 hits with 5 RBI against Atlanta on 4/1/2030...
Had 2000th career hit on 4/17/2030, off Robert Canales (MEM)...
Hit 3 homeruns against Memphis, driving in 5 runs on 5/14/2030...
Won Player of the Week award on 6/30/2030, hitting .522 with 2 HR, 8 RBI...
Was selected to the 2030 Allstar game...
Won Batter of the Month award on 8/1/2030, hitting .384 with 10 HR, 29 RBI...
Hit 3 homeruns against Washington, driving in 3 runs on 9/27/2030...
Was selected to the 2031 Allstar game...
Won World Series with Nashville in 2031...
Won Player of the Week award on 6/23/2032, hitting .500 with 4 HR, 11 RBI...
Was selected to the 2032 Allstar game...
Had 5 hits with 3 RBI against Atlanta on 7/16/2032...
Won Batter of the Month award on 8/1/2032, hitting .421 with 6 HR, 25 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/4/2032, hitting .367 with 6 HR, 14 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/25/2032, hitting .593 with 2 HR, 9 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 9/1/2032, hitting .438 with 6 HR, 26 RBI...
Drove in 7 runs against Atlanta on 9/9/2032...
Won Silver Slugger Award in 2032, hitting .378 with 32 HR, 145 RBI...
Was selected to the 2033 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/11/2033, hitting .526 with 4 HR, 8 RBI...
Was selected to the 2034 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/25/2034, hitting .407 with 5 HR, 11 RBI...
Had 500th career homerun on 9/18/2034, off George Saez (KNO)...
Had 3000th career hit on 4/30/2035, off George Saez (KNO)...
Was selected to the 2035 Allstar game...
Hit 3 homeruns against Washington, driving in 7 runs on 7/19/2035...
Won Player of the Week award on 7/21/2035, hitting .462 with 4 HR, 12 RBI...
Had 5 hits with 6 RBI against Washington on 9/9/2035...
Had 5 hits with 1 RBI against Atlanta on 9/19/2035...
Won Batter of the Month award on 10/1/2035, hitting .400 with 5 HR, 24 RBI...
Was selected to the 2036 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 7/7/2036, hitting .375 with 0 HR, 6 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 7/21/2036, hitting .469 with 3 HR, 9 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 8/1/2036, hitting .389 with 6 HR, 26 RBI...
Won Gold Glove Award at First Base in 2036...
Signed as a free agent by Atlanta on 3/1/2038 to a minor league contract.
Released by Atlanta on 5/19/2038...
Signed as a free agent by Kansas City on 9/1/2038 to a 1-year deal worth $300,000 per year...
Released by Kansas City on 10/3/2038, refused assignment to minors...
Retired and inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2039.
Batting Leader Boards Appearances
AVG
2024 - .336 - 3rd
2027 - .360 - 2nd
2028 - .323 - 6th
2029 - .326 - 3rd
2032 - .378 - 1st
2035 - .329 - 5th
OBP
2024 - .397 - 8th
2027 - .424 - 1st
2028 - .381 - 10th
2032 - .445 - 1st
SLG
2020 - .535 - 8th
2024 - .581 - 4th
2026 - .591 - 4th
2027 - .728 - 1st
2028 - .604 - 2nd
2029 - .601 - 4th
2030 - .638 - 4th
2031 - .551 - 10th
2032 - .662 - 1st
2034 - .569 - 9th
2035 - .562 - 9th
OPS
2024 - .978 - 5th
2026 - .956 - 6th
2027 - 1.152 - 1st
2028 - .985 - 3rd
2029 - .970 - 4th
2030 - 1.011 - 8th
2032 - 1.106 - 1st
2034 - .953 - 9th
2035 - .949 - 10th
Hits
2024 - 185 - 9th
2025 - 200 - 3rd
2026 - 206 - 3rd
2027 - 226 - 2nd
2028 - 195 - 6th
2029 - 209 - 1st
2030 - 192 - 10th
2032 - 235 - 1st
2034 - 191 - 6th
2035 - 203 - 4th
2036 - 201 - 3rd
Doubles
2022 - 42 - 8th
2024 - 46 - 6th
2025 - 47 - 5th
2026 - 54 - 3rd
2027 - 57 - 2nd
2028 - 42 - 10th
2029 - 61 - 2nd
2030 - 51 - 4th
2031 - 55 - 3rd
2032 - 70 - 1st
2033 - 39 - 10th
2034 - 44 - 6th
2035 - 51 - 2nd
2036 - 54 - 4th
Triples
2025 - 10 - 2nd
2026 - 9 - 5th
2027 - 9 - 4th
2029 - 7 - 9th
2035 - 12 - 2nd
2036 - 13 - 4th
Homeruns
2025 - 27 - 10th
2026 - 39 - 4th
2027 - 52 - 1st
2028 - 39 - 3rd
2029 - 34 - 6th
2030 - 45 - 1st
2031 - 33 - 9th
2034 - 35 - 9th
RBI
2023 - 107 - 1st
2025 - 118 - 5th
2026 - 123 - 8th
2027 - 147 - 1st
2028 - 118 - 7th
2029 - 126 - 3rd
2030 - 150 - 1st
2031 - 119 - 8th
2032 - 145 - 1st
2033 - 127 - 8th
2035 - 125 - 9th
Runs
2022 - 97 - 9th
2023 - 111 - 1st
2024 - 128 - 1st
2025 - 126 - 1st
2026 - 118 - 6th
2027 - 157 - 1st
2028 - 119 - 5th
2029 - 114 - 7th
2030 - 139 - 2nd
2031 - 128 - 5th
2032 - 147 - 1st
2036 - 126 - 6th
BB
2032 - 74 - 10th
After Sanchez, we move to the Hall of Famers who established themselves in the period from 2023 to 2032. In some ways, I think of this as one of the most interesting eras of the league. It includes the famed 2023 draft, which produced 7 Hall of Famers in the first round. No other draft has been as productive. As well, the players who established themselves in this era were largely at their peak productivity in the late '20s and early to mid-30s. This is significant because run scoring around the league began rising rapidly in the late '20s until peaking in the early '30s. The peaks established in this time period remain the highest that the league has ever seen, though the late '70s came close to matching those numbers.