Clayton Kershaw added another milestone to his already impressive and almost certain Hall of Fame career. Kershaw became just the 20th pitcher in MLB history to reach 3,000 strikeouts. 

He reached that mark when he struck out Vinny Capra in the sixth inning of the Los Angeles Dodgers game against the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday. 

Kershaw entered the 2025 season sitting at 2,968 strikeouts. However, he was recovering from a bone spur in the big toe on his left foot that ended his 2024 season. He made his return to the mound for the Dodgers on May 17, facing crosstown rival, the Los Angeles Angels.

It wasn’t the start he was looking for — he gave up five runs on five hits in just four innings of work. He also walked three batters and gave up a solo home run, but he inched closer to that 3,000-milestone, striking out two batters.

In one of his best outings this season, Kershaw pitched seven scoreless innings against the San Francisco Giants on June 14. He only gave up three hits and struck out five Giants. He struck out four more batters in a winning effort against the Washington Nationals on June 20, putting him just eight away from the 3,000-mark. He came within three of the rare milestone after striking out five over six innings, while earning the win against the Colorado Rockies last Thursday.

Despite conceding four runs on eight hits on Wednesday, Kershaw struck out three batters to accomplish the long-awaited goal, with the decisive punch-out coming against the final batter he faced. 

Kershaw isn’t the only person to achieve this feat in a Dodger uniform. His former teammate Max Scherzer was the most recent to reach the mark, when he did it on Sept. 21, 2021.

With this latest achievement, Kershaw adds to one of the most decorated resumes as a pitcher in MLB history. He’s a three-time Cy Young Award winner (2011, 2013, 2014), NL MVP in 2014, 10-time All-Star, two-time World Series champion. He has 216 wins, and has led the MLB three times in single-season wins and strikeouts. He already holds the most strikeouts by a Dodgers’ pitcher when he passed Don Sutton in 2022. 

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