Overview

• He would be the first pitcher to reach 3,000 strikeouts since Max Scherzer did so in 2021 and would join only Justin Verlander among active players in the club.
• Hitting the milestone would make him the 20th overall, the fourth left-hander and just the third to achieve it with a single franchise.
• Kershaw’s career résumé includes three Cy Young Awards, a 2.51 ERA and sustained five-day starter durability despite multiple surgeries and reduced fastball velocity.
• The modern shift toward specialized bullpens and shorter starter workloads has made accumulating innings and strikeouts at this level increasingly rare.
• Statistical forecasts show peers like Chris Sale and Gerrit Cole would require several more healthy seasons and hundreds of innings to challenge the 3,000-strikeout mark.