Kershaw becomes 20th pitcher to reach 3,000 Ks: ‘Special night’

Go ahead and add one more milestone to Clayton Kershaw’s Hall of Fame plaque.

The Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander became the 20th pitcher in MLB history to record 3,000 career strikeouts Wednesday in a 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox. He notched No. 3,000 by getting White Sox third baseman Vinny Capra looking to end the sixth inning on his 100th and final pitch of the night at Dodger Stadium.

“It was overwhelming to feel that,” Kershaw said, according to MLB.com’s Sonja Chen.

“I don’t have a lot of great words other than that it was just really special.”

Kershaw is just the fourth left-hander to enter this exclusive club, following Hall of Famers Randy Johnson, Steve Carlton, and CC Sabathia.

The 37-year-old is one of five hurlers to record 3,000-plus strikeouts with one team, joining John Smoltz (Braves), Carlton (Phillies), Bob Gibson (Cardinals), and Walter Johnson (Washington Senators). Of that group, only Kershaw, Gibson, and Johnson recorded every single one of their career strikeouts in the same uniform.

Kershaw’s most common victim during his 18-year career was longtime San Francisco Giants slugger Brandon Belt, who struck out 30 times against the left-hander. Paul Goldschmidt, Carlos González, and Hunter Pence have all been K’d at least 20 times by the future Cooperstown inductee.

It wasn’t clear if Kershaw would even be able to make it to this moment. He endured a miserable 2024 campaign, making just seven starts after returning from shoulder surgery and before suffering a season-ending toe injury in August. After the Dodgers won the World Series, he underwent toe and knee surgeries that pushed his 2025 debut into mid-May.

“I made it take too long,” Kershaw said. “Honestly, didn’t pitch that great tonight, and the slider was so bad. But this was such a special night all the way around. It really was. Couldn’t have asked for anything more, really. It was so fun to get to be out there.”

Kershaw came into Wednesday’s start, his ninth of the season, needing just three Ks to reach the magic mark. The young White Sox made him work for it, scoring four runs on nine hits and forcing Dave Roberts to make a difficult decision after five innings. Although his pitch count was climbing, Roberts stuck with his veteran, who pushed through the sixth and caught Capra looking at an 85-mph slider for the milestone.

Originally drafted seventh overall by L.A. in 2006, the Dallas native debuted in the majors two years later. His first strikeout victim was the very first batter he faced, the Cardinals’ Skip Schumaker, on May 25, 2008.

Strikeout
Date
Player
Opponent

1
5/25/08
Skip Schumaker
Cardinals

500
3/31/11
Buster Posey
Giants

1000
4/17/13
Yonder Alonso
Padres

1500
5/10/15
Drew Stubbs
Rockies

2000
6/2/17
Jonathan Villar
Brewers

2500
9/3/20
Nick Ahmed
D-Backs

Kershaw’s remarkable career has seen him win three NL Cy Young awards and the 2014 NL MVP, notch a no-hitter, secure five ERA titles, and claim three strikeout crowns. He struck out 301 batters in 2015. His 1.01 WHIP (entering play Wednesday) ranks fifth all time.

Kershaw may go down as the last pitcher to ever reach the 3,000-strikeout milestone, given how starting pitching has changed over the course of his career. The next-closest active pitcher to 3,000, Atlanta Braves left-hander Chris Sale, is 36 years old and needs another 472 Ks to get there.

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