AROUND THE HORN

▪ MLB: Miguel Cabrera reached the 3,000-hit mark on a weekend afternoon in front of an adoring crowd at his home ballpark in Detroit. It was a moment worthy of the milestone. It could also be the last time it happens for a while. In an era of high strikeout totals and low batting averages, there aren’t any other players who seem likely to reach 3,000 hits any time soon. In fact, the first few weeks of this season are a reminder of how current trends in baseball could affect which milestones remain in reach for the game’s top players. Among active players, the next man on the career hits list is Robinson Canó with 2,631. Canó had a good season for the Mets in the shortened 2020 campaign, but he missed the whole 2021 season serving a drug suspension. Canó turns 40 in October. Among players closer to their primes, 31-year-old Jose Altuve (1,783 hits) could have a shot, but the stros star hasn’t even reached 170 in a season since 2017. That was also the last time he played more than 146 games, and Altuve just went on the injured list with a hamstring problem. Part of what helped Cabrera to the milestone was that he reached the big leagues at age 20. The same was true of Rays star Wander Franco last year. He has 103 hits in his first 85 games, but even if Franco goes on to have a Hall of Fame career, it’ll obviously be a while before has a chance to threaten a milestone like 3,000 hits. The outlook is a little better for a power mark like 500 homers. Nelson Cruz has 451, and although he’s off to a slow start this year, don’t write off the 41-year-old Nationals slugger. When the 2008 season ended, Cruz was 28 and had only 22 home runs in his career, so the fact that he’s this close to 500 shows how well he has kept hitting them at an advanced age. For pitchers, the 300-win plateau feels like a pipe dream these days, and even strikeout milestones are no sure thing, since the top starters don’t throw as many innings as in the past. Max Scherzer of the Mets and Justin Verlander of the Astros, however, have already surpassed 3,000 strikeouts. Scherzer, 37, is the younger of those two. He struck out 236 last year for the Dodgers, and he was at 3,043 for his career entering Monday night’s scheduled start against the Cardinals. It may be a lot to ask for Scherzer to get to 4,000 — which only four pitchers have ever done — but 3,500 could be realistic, and that would put him in the top 10 all-time.

▪ Red Sox: RHPs Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford were placed on the restricted list before Monday night’s game against the Blue Jays in Toronto, the opener of a four-game series north of the border. To enter Canada, the Canadian government requires a person must have received a second vaccine dose — or one dose of Johnson & Johnson — at least 14 days prior to entry. Houck had previously acknowledged being unvaccinated. Players who go on the restricted list because they’re unvaccinated against COVID-19 don’t get paid and don’t accrue major league service time. C Kevin Plawecki rejoined the team Monday after missing seven games while on the COVID19 list, while catcher Connor Wong was optioned to Triple-A. Red Sox manager Alex Cora had missed the last four games after being infected with COVID-19. Infielder Jonathan Araúz has been on the COVID-19 list since April 19.