Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw joins MLB's exclusive 3,000 strikeout club
Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw has accomplished just about everything a baseball player could hope for in his . He's a two-time World Series Champion, an MVP, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, a 10-time All-Star, and now, as his career enters its twilight, he added yet another accolade to the long list.
On Wednesday night, Kershaw became Major League Baseball's 20th – and possibly final – player to strike out 3,000 batters throughout a career, when he took the mound against the Chicago White Sox at Dodger Stadium.
He toiled through a rough start, allowing eight hits and four quick runs in just four innings. Still, the lefty achieved greatness on the mound once again, getting former Dodger Miguel Vargas to strike out in the third for career K No. 2,997, Lenyn Sosa in the fifth inning for No. 2,998 and Vinny Capra in the sixth for No. 3,000.
Not only did Kersh join the illustrious list, he also became the fourth left-handed pitcher all-time to hit 3,000 strikeouts and the third player to do so while playing for just one team.
Now, he sits just behind Atlanta Braves great John Smoltz, who ranks 29th overall with 3,084 strikeouts.
Tonight's the night
In his most recent outing, Kershaw inched closer to the feat with strikeouts No. 2,993, 2,994, 2,995, 2,996 and 2,997 against the Colorado Rockies last Thursday, falling just three short of the career milestone.
The chances to witness history were likely for Dodgers fans who attended Wednesday night's game, as Kershaw has thrown for more than three strikeouts in each of his last four starts. That includes a seven-strikeout performance against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 8.
The White Sox were a reasonable opponent to expect a decent performance against, given the team has struggled at the plate and is at the bottom half of the league this season in team strikeouts with 736.
Plus, there were also the intangible effects of a highly anticipated ballgame that could influence the outcome in unforeseen ways. Perhaps Dodgers manager Dave Roberts could put a longer leash on Kershaw in a hairy situation if he's just one K away. Maybe the sure-to-be raucous home crowd will give Kershaw a boost.
The 20th and final member of the 3K strikeouts club?
Baseball is a different game than it used to be in many ways, especially when it comes to the usage of pitchers. With injury concerns mounting and analytics on the minds of managers, starting pitchers are seeing historically short leashes and pitched more based on situation than start.
There have been 18 complete games thrown by starting pitchers across MLB this season. In 2008, Kershaw's rookie year, 82 players threw at least one complete game, with league leader CC Sabathia, another member of the 3K strikouts club, throwing 10 on his own.
That simply doesn't happen anymore.
Of course, it's easy to say that when it appears that the next-closest guys, Atlanta Braves' Chris Sale and New York Yankees' Gerrit Cole, will need late-career surges to get there. Maybe rising stars like Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates and even young flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski of the Milwaukee Brewers can buck the trends and reach the club, but the odds are clearly stacked against them.
Not only do you need to be great to reach 3,000 strikeouts – you need to stay healthy, have managers that will let you pitch late in games and have solid teams around you that will keep you competitive. Kershaw had the perfect storm of all of those factors, and it looks like it will all pay off for the future Hall of Famer on Wednesday night.
Kershaw has cemented himself as one of the game's all-time greats over nearly two decades, much to the delight of Los Angeles faithful.
In 18 seasons, he's tallied 216 wins, now has 3,000 Ks and has a sparkling 2.51 ERA. The previously mentioned list of accolades also includes a Gold Glove Award and his name littered amongst all-time record holders.
