Former Tigers Ace Justin Verlander Reaches 3.500 Career Strikeouts

Verlander gave up 11 hits and five earned runs in five innings in his Sunday start for the Giants. He walked a batter, and he struck out six, and that’s what mattered in this case.

He struck out the side in the first inning to become the 10th pitcher in Major League history to strikeout 3,500 hitters. After the strikeout, he took a moment to acknowledge the crowd and the milestone as he walked to the dugout.

He joined Nolan Ryan (5,714), Randy Johnson (4,875), Roger Clemens (4,672), Steve Carlton (4,136), Bert Blyleven (3,701), Tom Seaver (3,640), Don Sutton (3,574), Gaylord Perry (3,534 and Walter Johnson (3,509) in the Top 10.

His former Tigers teammate, Max Scherzer, is No. 11 all-time with 3,456 strikeouts. It’s possible he could become the 11th member of the club later this season. The pair are 1-2 in active players in strikeouts.

Justin Verlander with the Tigers

Verlander was selected No. 2 overall by the Tigers out of Old Dominion and in 2004. He made his MLB debut a year later and pitched the first 13 seasons of his career in Motown.

He quickly emerged as one of the game’s best pitchers. By the end of the 2010 season, he was the 2006 American League rookie of the year, a three-time AL All-Star and had finished in the Top 11 in Cy Young voting four times.

The 2011 season proved to be his breakthrough. Verlander won his first AL Cy Young award as he went 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA and struck out 250 hitters, winning the American League pitching triple crown. He was also named the AL MVP. He nearly won the Cy Young again in 2012 as he finished second in voting after he went 17-8 with a 2.64 ERA. The Tigers fell short of winning the World Series.

By the end of his 13-year Tigers career, he was 183-114 with a 3.49 ERA with seven All-Star Game appearances, the Cy Young, the MVP and the rookie of the year award. He had 2,373 of his career strikeouts wearing the Gothic D.  He was traded at the deadline to the Houston Astros in 2017, where he helped them win two World Series and he won two more American League Cy Young awards.