San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado debuted in 2012 to considerable hype—and he has, for the most part, lived up to it.

Machado singled Monday against the Arizona Diamondbacks for his 2,000th hit, becoming the 298th member of that club. He is up to 950 career hits with the Padres, to go with 977 on the Baltimore Orioles and 36 in a brief stint with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

However, Machado's consistent power numbers and relatively young age placed him in an even more exclusive category. He is, per MLB, just the 12th player to get 2,000 hits and hit 350 home runs through his age-32 season.

The other 11 players rank among baseball's greatest talents, from early-live-ball-era sluggers like Mel Ott and Lou Gehrig to modern titans like Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez.

Could Machado get to 3,000 hits or 500 home runs? Neither seems out of the realm of possibility for one of baseball's most durable players. He has more than 1,000 hits in the past eight seasons and more than 150 home runs in the past seven. Balance out the pandemic of the past with the age-related decline to come, and more milestones would appear to be on the way.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Manny Machado's 2,000th Hit Admitted Him to a Special Statistical Club.

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