Clayton Kershaw Becomes 1st Dodgers Pitcher With 3,000 Career Strikeouts

Clayton Kershaw became the 20th pitcher in MLB history with 3,000 career strikeouts and just the fourth left-hander to reach the milestone.

In addition to Kershaw, Steve Carlton, Randy Johnson and CC Sabathia are the only left-handed pitchers with 3,000 strikeouts. Carlton, Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens and Johnson make up the select group of pitchers in MLB’s 4,000-strikeout club. Ryan truly is in a class of his own with 5,714 career strikeouts.

Meanwhile, only Walter Johnson (Washington Nationals), Bob Gibson (St. Louis Cardinals) and Kershaw became a 3K pitcher while playing for just one team.

“It does,” answered Dodgers manager Dave Roberts when asked if achieving the feat with one team adds more meaning.

“But I think for me, I haven’t been part of his journey for his entire career, so I think that’s probably more special to Dodger fans and him, his family. I think if you look at the odds of doing it, with the same team, all that stuff, the margins are very small to have it happen like this.

“I didn’t grow up as a Dodgers fan, so the Dodger faithful can really appreciate they’ve been on this journey with Clayton for 18 years, so that’s pretty cool.”

Before Kershaw joined the club, Max Scherzer, a fellow three-time Cy Young Award winner, was the pitcher who most recently reached 3,000 strikeouts. Coincidentally, Scherzer did so while with the Dodgers in 2021.

Scherzer at the time said he hoped to still be Los Angeles Dodgers teammates with Kershaw when the future Hall of Famer accomplished the feat.

Kershaw is the only Dodgers pitcher with 3,000 strikeouts. The franchise’s previous strikeout king was Don Sutton, who Kershaw passed on April 30, 2022.

Chris Sale and Gerrit Cole are the only active MLB pitchers who figure to have an inside track at 3,000 career strikeouts. Zack Greinke is at 2,979, and although the right-hander is yet to formally retire, he hasn’t pitched since 2023.

How Clayton Kershaw got to 3,000 strikeouts

Kershaw struck out Vinny Capra to reach 3,000 in his career. It came in the sixth inning on his 100th pitch of the night.

While that was his most recent, Kershaw’s first career strikeout was Skip Schumaker during his MLB debut against the St. Louis Cardinals on May 25, 2008.

Kershaw’s best season on that front was when he had 301 strikeouts in 2015. That still stands as his career-best mark for a full season.

The batter Kershaw has struck out most in head-to-head matchups throughout his career is Brandon Belt, with 30. That coincides with the San Francisco Giants being the opponent Kershaw has the most strikeouts against, 413.

The San Diego Padres are next on the list in a distant second place, as Kershaw has 317 strikeouts against their batters. Toronto Blue Jays are the team that has collectively struck out the fewest against Kershaw, certainly impacted by being in the American League, at 16.