Phillies’ Altherr on Brink of Rare Feat Ahead of All-Star Break

By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor

Despite starting the first half of his fifth major league season with an underwhelming .176/.294/.316 slash through 75 games and 221 plate appearances, Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Aaron Altherr is on the brink of accomplishing a feat matched by just five other players since 1960.

Jim Gentile (1961), Tim Laudner (1987), Mark McGwire (1995, 1998, 2000), John Jaha (1998) and Jason Giambi (2006) are the only players in MLB history to record more RBI than hits before the All-Star Game, according to BoopStats. Altherr currently has 33 hits and 32 RBI.

Of the 28 games, in which Altherr has produced either statistical category, he recorded at least one hit and one RBI in 17 games, at least one hit with no RBI in 10 games, and at least one RBI with no hits in one game.

The Phillies have 14 games left before the 89th Midsummer Classic. While Altherr's production has not been consistent, his 32 RBI is good for fifth-best on the club, behind Rhys Hoskins (50), Carlos Santana (48), Odubel Herrera (46) and Maikel Franco (38).