In mid-September, Anthony Rizzo announced his retirement after playing 14 seasons. In the majors. In those 14 seasons, he played 1727 games, hitting .261/.361/.467 with 303 home runs and 965 RBI. Rizzo finished his career with an OPS over .800. Additionally, he’s a 3-time All-Star and a 4-time Gold Glove award winner.
In Rizzo’s career, he spent most of his career with the Cubs, batting .272/.372/.489 with 242 home runs and 784 RBI over 1308 games. Looking at those numbers in the Cubs uniform, how important did Rizzo play in the Cubs franchise history?
Firstly, let’s look at the home run leaders. Sammy Sosa blasted 545 home runs in the Cubs uniform and Ernie Banks smashed 512 home runs for the Cubs. There are only 2 players who crushed 500+ home runs for the Cubs. Moreover, Billy Williams played 16 seasons for the Cubs and had 392 home runs. Ron Santo hit 337 home runs in his 14 seasons with the Cubs. Ryne Sandberg had 282 home runs as a Cub. Anthony Rizzo’s 242 home runs ranked 6th in franchise history.
And, let’s look at something interesting. Anthony Rizzo was hit by pitch 165 times in the Cubs uniform. That’s the most in the Cubs franchise history. Frank Chance was hit by pitch 137 times in 15 seasons as a Cub. Moreover, Kris Bryant was hit by pitch 86 times when he played for the Cubs from 2015 to 2021.
In addition, I also took a look at the great Fangraphs website. From 2012 to 2021, Rizzo blasted 250 home runs, which ranked 4th among first basemen. During the same period, Paul Goldschmidt crushed 272 home runs. From 2012 to 2020, Chris Davis hit 251 home runs and Edwin Encarnacion smashed 307 home runs.
In addition, looking at the RBI, Paul Goldschmidt collected 901 RBI from 2012 to 2021. He certainly is a great hitter who can collect so many RBI. Edwin Encarnacion had 869 RBI from 2012 to 2020. Freddie Freeman, who’s one of the most consistent hitters in the majors, collected 864 RBI from 2012 to 2021. Future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols had 821 RBI during the same period. Another future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera collected 800+ RBI from 2012 to 2021 as well. Rizzo collected 805 RBI, which ranked 6th among the first basemen.
Finally, let’s take a quick look at hits. Freeman and Goldschmidt each had 1500+ hits from 2012 to 2021. Eric Hosmer had 1476 hits during the same period. Miguel Cabrera had 1390 hits and Rizzo got 1354 hits from 2012 to 2021.
When we look back at Rizzo’s career, those 10 seasons with the Cubs are certainly the most important part of his career. Well, he got hit by pitch a lot, but no one can ignore that he can get on base. Meanwhile, from 2012 to 2021, Rizzo’s hitting performance had shown that he was one of the best first basemen in the majors. In those 10 seasons, he smashed 250 home runs and collected 800+ RBI. For the Cubs, they will never forget the 2016 World Series. Kris Bryant threw to Rizzo for the final out to end the drought.
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