Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Shouldn’t Kellogg’s have commemorative boxes of Special K cereal with Clayton Kershaw on the front ready for sale in Los Angeles?
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Yes, I know I said there wouldn’t be another newsletter until next week, but, Kershaw became the 20th pitcher in baseball history to strike out 3,000 batters when he reached that milestone during Wednesday’s game against the Chicago White Sox. It’s a testament to his longevity and the fact he pitched at an elite level for many years. Even now, when he is no longer the Kershaw of old, he is still one of the best starters the Dodgers have.
Here is a statistical look at his 3,000 strikeouts.
The 3,000 strikeouts club ranked by strikeouts per nine innings:
Max Scherzer, 10.64Randy Johnson 10.61Pedro Martinez, 10.04Clayton Kershaw, 9.69Nolan Ryan, 9.54Justin Verlander, 8.97Curt Schilling, 8.60Roger Clemens, 8.55John Smoltz, 7.99CC Sabathia, 7.78Bob Gibson, 7.22Steve Carlton, 7.13Tom Seaver, 6.85Bert Blyleven, 6.70Ferguson Jenkins, 6.38Don Sutton, 6.09Greg Maddux, 6.06Gaylord Perry, 5.95Phil Niekro, 5.57
Walter Johnson, 5.34
Batters Clayton Kershaw has struck out the most (does not include pitchers)
30 times
Brandon Belt (4 for 62 overall against Kershaw)
24 times
Paul Goldschmidt (15 for 67)
22 times
Carlos González (10 for 57)
20 times
Hunter Pence (18 for 91)
19 timesBuster Posey (25 for 113)
Drew Stubbs (6 for 39)
17 timesTroy Tulowitzki (18 for 66)Ian Desmond (8 for 48)
Justin Upton (7 for 47)
Batters Kershaw has trouble striking out (minimum 20 at bats)
struck out 0 times
Orlando Hudson, (6 for 21 overall against Kershaw)
one timeDaniel Murphy (5 for 20)
Marco Scutaro (9 for 26)
three timesMiguel Tejada (7 for 20)Allen Craig (6 for 22)
Joe Panik (11 for 41)
four timesRandal Grichuk (5 for 20)Jordan Pacheco (3 for 23)Pat Burrell (6 for 20)Anthony Rendon (7 for 22)Carlos Gomez (7 for 24)Jonathan Lucroy (1 for 24)Chris Young (7 for 29)Jimmy Rollins (7 for 31)
Ryan Zimmerman (10 for 33)
The count1-2, 1,053 times2-2, 8220-2, 719
3-2, 406
Outs2, 1,0060, 1,004
1, 990
Inning1: 4632: 5043: 4504: 4395: 4446: 3447: 2328: 93
9: 31
Game totals15 strikeout games: 214: 413: 912: 811: 1810: 279: 538: 487: 636: 615: 594: 403: 232: 18
1: 5
Milestone strikeouts
First strikeoutMay 25, 2008
Skip Schumaker, St. Louis
100th strikeoutSept. 29, 2008
Kevin Kouzmanoff, San Diego
500th strikeoutMarch 31, 2011
Buster Posey, San Francisco
1,000th strikeoutApril 17, 2013
Yonder Alonso, San Diego
1,500th strikeoutMay 10, 2015
Drew Stubbs, Colorado
2,000th strikeoutJune 2, 2017
Jonathan Villar, Milwaukee
2,500th strikeoutSept. 3, 2020
Nick Ahmed, Arizona
3,000th strikeoutJuly 2, 2025
Vinny Capra, Chicago White Sox
By month:March: 23April: 454May: 496June: 577July: 432August: 490September: 489
October: 39
By catcherA.J. Ellis, 920Austin Barnes, 551Yasmani Grandal, 451Russell Martin, 379Will Smith, 251Rod Barajas, 171Dioner Navarro, 106Brad Ausmus, 55Drew Butera, 45Tim Federowicz, 22Danny Ardoin, 19Rámon Hernández, 17Matt Treamor, 11
Dalton Rushing, 2
His decisionsIn his wins: 1,672no decision: 752
in his losses: 576
His roleAs a starter: 2,995
As a reliever: 5
Pitch countPitch 1-25: 700Pitch 26-50: 815Pitch 51-75: 760Pitch 76-100: 579
Pitch 101+: 146
BatterRight-handed: 2,265
Left-handed: 735
Where?Home: 1,630
Away: 1,370
OpponentSan Francisco, 413Colorado, 321San Diego, 317Arizona, 294St. Louis, 158Washington, 139NY Mets, 126Milwaukee, 124Chicago Cubs, 121Philadelphia, 118Cincinnati, 116Miami, 116Angels, 115Atlanta, 98Pittsburgh, 79Houston, 59Seattle, 42NY Yankees, 36Chicago White Sox, 34Oakland, 31Tampa Bay, 27Kansas City, 21Minnesota, 20Cleveland, 20Detroit, 20Texas, 19
Toronto, 16
Note: Kershaw has never faced Baltimore or Boston in the regular season.
Number of pitches4: 8975: 7733: 6086: 4437: 1618: 859: 21
10+: 12
By batters’ defensive positionFirst base, 361Left field, 357Right field, 347Center field, 341Third base, 310Catcher, 295Pitcher, 285Second base, 286Shortstop, 274Designated hitter, 78
Pinch hitter, 66
Bases occupiedBases empty, 1,947Man on first, 429Man on second, 249Men on first and second, 146Man on third, 70Men on first and third, 67Men on second and third, 50
Bases loaded, 42
Batting order position9th, 4221st, 3505th, 348 6th, 3254th, 3242nd, 3217th, 3153rd, 306
8th, 289
By score marginDodgers lead by four or more, 385Dodgers lead by three, 207Dodgers lead by two, 306Dodgers lead by one, 461Tied, 1,014Dodgers trail by one, 338Dodgers trail by two, 188Dodgers trail by three, 66
Dodgers trail by four or more, 35
Swinging or looking?Swinging strikeout, 2,225
Caught looking, 775
Eight runners reached first after a strikeout because of wild pitch or passed ball
Source: baseball-reference.com
Plaschke: There are 3,000 reasons Clayton Kershaw is the greatest pitcher in Dodger history
Photos: Kershaw’s road to 3,000
Fans react to Clayton Kershaw reaching 3,000 career strikeouts
Clayton Kershaw reaches 3,000 career strikeouts, is 20th pitcher to do so in MLB history
Clayton Kershaw gets his 3,000th strikeout. Watch and listen here.
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