Former MLB MVP, Cy Young winner joins historic club with pitching milestone (video)

Published On: August 13, 2025

Justin Verlander, the starting pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, is one of just ten pitchers in Major League Baseball history to earn his 3,500th career strikeout on Sunday.

At Oracle Park in San Francisco, the 42-year-old Verlander closed the first inning by striking out Nathaniel Lowe, the first baseman for the Washington Nationals, with a fastball that clocked in at 95 mph, his 3,500th career strikeout.

Verlander had three strikeouts less than 3,000 going into Sunday’s game, and he recorded six on the day for 3,503 in his career. The Nationals won 8-0 against the Giants.

Verlander, the 2011 American League MVP and three-time Cy Young Award winner, stated, “I was happy to get there, happy to have the moment with the fans.” It’s a great accomplishment. I truly value the effort required to get there.

The Giants posted a congrats message on the scoreboard in honor of Verlander’s historic strikeout. The home audience gave Verlander, who is in his first season with San Francisco, a standing ovation as he left the field and headed toward the Giants bench.

After Nolan Ryan (5,714 career strikeouts), 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), Verlander’s 3,503 career strikeouts rank 10th in MLB history. With the exception of Clemens, who has long been disinducted from the Hall because of allegations that he used steroids while playing, eight of those nine pitchers are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The San Francisco Standard said that Verlander claimed such identities were authentic. You understand that some numbers have a history and a time component. I was aware that 3,500 was reachable. I knew about it, even though I didn’t circle it on the calendar.

Verlander, who made his Major League Baseball debut in 2005 against the Cleveland Indians, stated that he plans to continue pitching in the upcoming season, which would be his 21st in the Bigs.

He said, “I mean, I’d like to.” I’m not going to have surgery or rehab at this stage in my career if something goes terribly bad. Physically, I believe I’ve demonstrated some good health this season, but I always realize that may be it. Things have begun to improve steadily while I’ve been on the mound. With all the effort I put in following my nerve damage last year—which is known to take a long time—I see that as encouraging. I want to keep pitching since the ball is moving in the proper direction. You never know. I believe the stuff is still there, but it’s a fickle game as well.

Verlander has pitched 3,515 innings in 546 games with the Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, New York Mets, and Giants, with a 263-156 record, 3.33 ERA, and 3,503 strikeouts. In addition to winning the AL Cy Young Award and MVP award with Detroit in 2011, he was awarded the 2006 American League Rookie of the Year and went on to win the AL Cy Young Award twice more with Houston in 2019 and 2022. In addition, he has been selected to nine All-Star teams and has won two World Series with Houston in 2017 and 2022.

Paul Hoynes, a veteran Cleveland Guardians beat reporter for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer, stated, “I’ve seen a lot of Justin Verlander.” He started more games versus the Indians than any other team since making his big league debut against them. He has dominated Cleveland during the Astros’ postseason run, as I have witnessed. I witnessed him win both the AL Cy Young Award and MVP for the Tigers in the same season. He was unanimously elected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot. His career belongs in Cooperstown, and his 3,500 strikeouts are just one aspect of it. At this stage of his career, Father Time is the one thing he cannot defeat.