Lefty Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers has become the 20th pitcher in MLB history to record 3,000 career strikeouts. The 37-year-old Dallas native reached this historic milestone at Dodger Stadium against the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday, striking out Vinny Capra with two outs in the sixth inning.
Kershaw joins Nolan Ryan (5,714), Randy Johnson (4,875), Roger Clemens (4,672), Steve Carlton (4,136), Bert Blyleven (3,701), Tom Seaver (3,640), Don Sutton (3,574), Gaylord Perry (3,534), Walter Johnson (3,509), Justin Verlander (3,471), Max Scherzer (3,419), Greg Maddux (3,371), Phil Niekro (3,342), Fergie Jenkins (3,192), Pedro Martinez (3,154), Bob Gibson (3,117), Curt Schilling (3,116), CC Sabathia (3,093) and John Smoltz (3,084) in the exclusive 3,000-strikeout club. He is one of four left-handed pitchers to record 3,000-plus strikeouts, and he is the second pitcher to record his 3,000th strikeout as a Dodger, joining Scherzer.
Kershaw became one of five pitchers to record 3,000 strikeouts with one team, joining Johnson (3,509; Washington Senators, 1907-27), Gibson (3,127; St. Louis Cardinals, 1959-75), Carlton (3,031; Philadelphia Phillies, 1972-86) and Smoltz (3,011; Atlanta Braves, 1988-2008), and he is one of three players in MLB history to reach the milestone having played for only one team his entire career.
The three-time Cy Young award winner, two-time World Series Champion and five-time NL ERA leader is 216-94 with a 2.52 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in his 18-year big league career. His wins with one team rank 11th all-time in MLB history, while his ERA and WHIP rank first among pitchers with 2,000 innings in the live-ball era. Kershaw currently ranks third in MLB history with a .211 batting average against, behind Ryan (.204) and Dodger Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax (.205), and he is the first pitcher to lead either league in ERA for four straight seasons since Koufax (1962-66).
In 2024, Kershaw appeared in his 10th All-Star game, which tied him with Pee Wee Reese for All-Star appearances in Dodger history. Kersh became the 74th player in MLB history with double-digit nods to the All-Star Game and the ninth pitcher ever to accomplish the feat, joining Warren Spahn (17), Mariano Rivera (13), Seaver (12), Clemens (11), Carlton (10), Whitey Ford (10), Johnson (10) and Juan Marichal (10).
In Dodger history, Kershaw is atop various categories, including strikeouts (1st), WHIP (1st), wins (2nd), ERA (3rd), innings pitched (4th, 2,787.1), and games started (3rd, 438). Additionally, he is the all-time leader in Dodger postseason history in strikeouts (213), wins (13), games started (32) and innings pitched (194.1).
Kershaw was originally selected seventh overall by Los Angeles in the first round of the 2006 MLB draft out of Highland Park High School in Texas and made his MLB debut on May 24, 2008 at Dodger Stadium against the Cardinals.
(Juan Dorado furnished the information provided in this report)