Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw became the 39th pitcher in major league history to strike out 2,500 batters, reaching the milestone Thursday night.
In the second inning at Dodger Stadium, Kershaw got Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed swinging at a looping curveball for the milestone whiff. It was Kershaw’s third strikeout of the night.
The only active players ahead of Kershaw on the all-time strikeout list are the Houston Astros’ Justin Verlander (3,013), the Washington Nationals’ Max Scherzer (2,753), the Astros’ Zack Greinke (2,666), the Atlanta Braves’ Cole Hamels (2,558) and Felix Hernandez (2,524). However, Verlander and Hamels are on the injured list, and Hernandez opted out of the 2020 season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Bartolo Colon, a 47-year-old who hasn’t pitched since 2018, also maintained earlier this year that he isn’t retired. He has 2,535 K’s.
Kershaw is the 11th left-hander to hit 2,500 strikeouts, a list headed by Randy Johnson (4,875). Johnson is a distant second on the overall list behind Nolan Ryan (5,714).