Beltran Becomes 4th Switch-Hitter with 400 Career Home Runs

New York Yankees outfielder Carlos Beltran hit his 400th career home run during Sunday's 7-5 win over the Chicago White Sox, joining Mickey Mantle, Eddie Murray and Chipper Jones as the only switch-hitters in MLB history with 400 or more homers, per MLB Stat of the Day.

The 39-year-old outfielder picked a nice time for his milestone blast, with his two-run homer off White Sox relief pitcher Zach Duke giving the Yankees a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Beltran hit the long ball from the right side of the plate, giving him 116 homers (29 percent) as a right-handed batter compared to 284 (71 percent) as a left-handed batter.

Of course, he's only taken 2,711 of his 10,069 career plate appearances (26.9 percent) from the right side, as the majority of pitchers are right-handed.

While most switch-hitters exhibit a clear preference for hitting from one side or the other, Beltran has similar numbers from both sides, with a bit more power as a right-handed hitter and a few more walks as a left-handed batter.

He owns a .280/.357/.485 lifetime triple-slash line from the left side of the plate compared to a .281/.345/.505 line from the right side.

Given his age, Beltran will almost certainly retire as the fourth-leading home run hitter among switch-hitters, as Mantle and Murray are both members of the 500-homer club, while Jones retired with 468.

Beltran has already done enough to garner serious Hall of Fame consideration, but he might need another solid season or two—and perhaps a World Series ring—in order to truly make his case iron-clad.