Justin Verlander Moves Up MLB All-Time Strikeout List

Justin Verlander added another bullet point to his Hall of Fame résumé Tuesday night.

In a 5-2 win over the Chicago Cubs at Oracle Park, he limited one of MLB's best offenses to seven hits and two runs across six innings while walking two batters and striking out five. The five strikeouts were especially notable, as they moved Verlander up another spot on the all-time strikeout list with 3,516.

Here's the full top 10.

1. Nolan Ryan: 5,714
2. Randy Johnson: 4,875
3. Roger Clemens: 4,672
4. Steve Carlton: 4,136
5. Bert Blyleven: 3,701
6. Tom Seaver: 3,640
7. Don Sutton: 3,574
8. Gaylord Perry: 3,534
9. Justin Verlander: 3,516
10. Walter Johnson: 3,515

With 30 regular season games remaining, Verlander has a reasonable chance to move up another spot on this list. While the pitching rotation is subject to change, he could make six more starts this season. He's averaging 4.5 strikeouts per start, so it'd take about four more starts on that pace to pass Gaylord Perry for the No. 8 spot.

Verlander was known as one of the top strikeout pitchers earlier in his career, leading his respective league in the category five times in his 20-year career. Oddly enough, he struck out a career-high 300 batters in 2019 but did not lead the league, as his Houston Astros teammate Gerrit Cole fanned an MLB-most 326.

If Verlander was still on that type of pace at this stage of his career, he'd have a chance to catch Don Sutton for the No. 7 spot, trailing by 58 strikeouts with potentially six starts to go. But that may have to wait until next season, as long as Verlander, 42, decides he'd still like to pitch.

Even if he were to call it quits after the season, Verlander is a surefire Hall of Fame choice. Across 20 seasons, he has three Cy Young Awards, two World Series titles, an MVP award, nine All-Star appearances, two ERA titles, 264 wins, a 3.34 career ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 3,532.1 innings and 80.9 WAR.