From Dodger Insider magazine: Clayton Kershaw — on the way to the summit
Clayton Kershaw’s ascent has taken him toward a legendary strikeout milestone
Editor’s note: This story is taken from the pages of Dodger Insider magazine.
by Cary Osborne
The red number on the front and the big blue number on the back of Clayton Kershaw’s jersey look completely unrecognizable now.
Fifty-four?
But that was him wearing that number for his Major League debut and standing nearly 60 feet, 6 inches away from St. Louis Cardinals leadoff hitter Skip Schumaker.
And on the seventh pitch of the at-bat on May 25, 2008, the 20-year-old rookie pitcher struck out Schumaker swinging on a letter-high fastball.
Eighteen years later, the strikeouts have risen to a towering number as Kershaw nears one of baseball’s special milestones.
№22 began the 2025 season with 2,968 strikeouts. He’s now at 2.974. Nineteen pitchers in Major League history have reached 3,000.
In typical Kershaw fashion, two days before he made his 2025 season debut for the Dodgers, the highly decorated left-handed pitcher was microfocused. When asked about 3,000 Ks, he said the thing he was thinking about was his next start — not the four-digit number.
But for Kershaw, who returned to a Major League mound on May 17 after offseason knee and toe surgeries, season №18 and the chase for 3,000 strikeouts speak to his longevity, excellence and perseverance.
It’s been two consecutive seasons where the Dodgers have begun a season without their legendary lefty.
Kershaw’s 2024 season didn’t begin until July 25 after an offseason in which he had surgery for the first time in his career — this, a left shoulder repair.
Back and left-arm injuries have stood in his way on numerous occasions in the past. The injuries have led to 16 Minor League rehab starts in his career. He has struck out 78 batters in those starts. He has struck out another 213 batters in the postseason.
So all told, there were 3,259 strikeouts between his Major League service, rehab assignments and postseason appearances from 2008–2024.
“You just try and do your job,” Kershaw says in regard to his longevity, excellence and perseverance. “The team makes a commitment to you for one year, five years, seven years, you try and honor that as best you can. I’ve been super grateful for the Dodgers to keep giving me these opportunities to come out and pitch. And so that’s just what I want to do. I want to go out there and pitch. So I think the longevity part is just about honoring your commitment more than anything.”
The road to 3,000, though, has included unforgettable moments: Fifteen strikeouts in his June 18, 2014 no-hitter, the 300th strikeout of the 2015 season, and breaking Don Sutton’s franchise record with № 2,697 on April 30, 2022, among them.
But there’s also the list.
Beginning with Schumaker, the list of strikeout victims numbered 942 different batters entering 2025.
No one more than Brandon Belt.
The retired former Giants first baseman struck out 30 times in 67 plate appearances. The current active player with the most strikeouts against Kershaw is Paul Goldschmidt with 24.
Bryce Harper has struck out nearly half the times he has faced Kershaw — 14 times in 29 plate appearances.
Kershaw, a surefire Hall of Famer five years after he retires, has struck out six current Hall of Famers in his career — Todd Helton (12 times), Ichiro Suzuki (two), Scott Rolen (two), Greg Maddux (one), Randy Johnson (one) and Derek Jeter (one).
He has struck out current teammates — Freddie Freeman (nine times), Shohei Ohtani (four), Michael Conforto (three), Miguel Rojas (one) and pitcher Blake Treinen.
Treinen, then a member of the Washington Nationals, was making his first Major League start on May 6, 2014. It was his fourth Major League game.
When he stepped into the batter’s box against Kershaw in the third inning, it was his second Major League at-bat. His previous at-bat was three weeks earlier against Miami’s Steve Cishek, and Treinen was told not to swing the bat. He struck out looking on three pitches.
“First at-bat against Kershaw, and I look back at (Dodger catcher) Drew Butera, and I said, ‘Hey, sick draw for my first at-bat,’” Treinen recalls with a laugh. “He goes, ‘Have some confidence, kid.’ And I was like, ‘I’m confident. I’m trying to be funny here and laugh about it.’”
Kershaw struck out Treinen on three pitches.
“Last one I tried to swing, and the ball’s in the glove before I even got the bat off my shoulder,” Treinen says.
Treinen came back and singled off Kershaw in the fifth inning of that game for the first and only hit of his Major League career.
Kershaw struck out current Dodger bullpen coach Josh Bard on Sept. 22, 2009, when Bard was playing for the Nationals.
Kershaw struck out Dodger Spanish broadcaster and former teammate Luis Cruz on Sept. 27, 2009, when he was with the Pirates.
He owns strikeouts against Dodger Baseball Operations Special Assistants Nelson Cruz, Placido Polanco and Tyson Ross, and Raul Ibañez (a vice president in the Dodger baseball operations department).
He has struck out current Major League managers Alex Cora and Will Venable three times each.
Kershaw has recorded a strikeout with 14 different catchers in his career. Among that group, Butera, Tim Federowicz, Yasmani Grandal, Dioner Navarro have struck out against him.
Kershaw struck out Scott Cousins. He has struck out brothers — the Gonzalezes (Adrián and Edgar), the Uptons (B.J. and Justin Upton) the Valaikas (Pat and Chris), the Gordons (Dee and Nick), the LaRoches (Adam and Andy) and the Hairstons (Jerry Jr. and Scott). Keeping it in the family, he has struck out the Padres 317 times. Jerry Hairston is one of those Padres.
“I remember him striking me out in San Diego,” says Jerry Hairston Jr., now an analyst with the SportsNet LA. “I couldn’t believe the fastball stayed at my knees. I thought it would stay down for a ball. He just froze me.
“I’m honored (to be on the list),” Hairston adds. “We had some pretty good battles. But he got me a couple of times.”
Hairston ended up being Kershaw’s teammate in 2012 and 2013, giving him a different vantage point.
“You knew he was going to be a Hall of Famer,” Hairston says. “With him, you know he’s going to hit his spots. So I loved that. Even as an outfielder, if I saw the catcher set up in, I can adjust because he’s going to hit his spots. If the batter gets a hold of the ball, you know where it’s generally going to go. As an infielder, playing third base, he’d bear that fastball in on those guys, so I got some weak ground balls at third base, so I was always more ready for that — if they made contact with that fastball.”
Many of them didn’t on strike two.
Among them were a Baker (Jeff), a Carpenter (Matt), a Cook (Aaron), a Butler (Billy), a Farmer (Kyle) and a Judge (Aaron, three times).
If we want to get presidential, he has struck out Kennedys (Ian, Adam and Buddy), Jacksons (Alex, Austin and Conor), a Carter (Chris), Johnsons (Josh, Chris, Kelly, Bryce, Nick and Randy), Wilsons (Josh and Jack), a Harrison (Josh), Taylors (Michael A. and Tyrone) and Chadwick Tromp.
He has K’d Elvis (Andrus) and Presley (Alex). Speaking of royalty, add Prince Fielder and Scott Kingery.
Kershaw has struck out Astros batters 59 times. But it doesn’t end there with astronomy. He has also struck out Starlin Castro, Starling Marte and Jorge Soler.
He has struck out Ty France and Jonathan India. More stateside, he struck out John Maine.
There’s been a Byrd (Marlon), a Buck (John), a Moose (Mike Moustakas), a Peacock (Matt), and no dog, but a Ruf (Darin).
As he has climbed the mountain toward 3,000, he has struck out Aaron Hill and Magneuris Sierra.
From land to water, he has struck out Vernon Wells, Casper Wells, Randy Wells, Jason Bay, Lyle Overbay, Junior Lake and Kyle Seager.
Derek Fisher and Mike Trout, too.
Kershaw struck out Brett Gardner, while also taking care of Wilmer Flores, Tyler Flowers and Austin Hedges.
One can say he has struck them out from A to Z — from Abercrombie (Reggie) to Zunino (Mike). No player in National League/American League history has had a last name beginning with X. However, Kershaw has K’d Xavier Nady, Xavier Paul and Xander Bogaerts.
Kershaw has done this longer than any other Dodger pitcher. His 18 seasons are a franchise high for a pitcher. He is the Dodgers’ all-time leader in strikeouts.
The end of his story is still to be determined.
But he has also struck out Ender Inciarte and Trevor Story in his legendary career.
From Dodger Insider magazine: Clayton Kershaw, on the way to the summit was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.