ICHIRO PROVING TO BE A BIG HIT WITH THE MARLINS

Miami Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, at 42, wasn’t supposed to be a factor this season. Preseason projections pegged him as a .250 hitter without accumulating enough playing time to be considered an everyday player. These projections put his quest for 3,000 hits in doubt, with the most optimistic of the bunch giving Ichiro 43 hits in 173 at- bats. Now, he has at least two hits in each of his last five starts — the oldest player to do so since Carl Yastrzemski in 1983 — and is a very tough out this season. In fact, you could also argue Ichiro’s plate discipline is the best it has ever been. His walk rate ( 9.3 per cent of plate appearances) is almost near his career high set in 2002 and he is seeing the highest percentage of 3- 0 counts in a decade. As a result, his strikeout rate (5.0 per cent) is more than half of what it was in either of the past three seasons and, if maintained, would be the lowest of his career. Ichiro rarely gets caught looking (two strikeouts in 140 plate appearances) and has lowered his strikeout swinging rate from 7.9 to 3.5 per cent in one season. Ichiro needs 21 hits to reach MLB’s coveted 3,000-hit milestone, joining Ty Cobb, Paul Molitor and Eddie Collins as the only players in baseball history to collect 3,000 hits and 500 stolen bases with a career .300 average. At his current pace, the celebration might occur sometime in mid-July.