The 2024 spring training games just kicked off. So, baseball is back. A couple of days ago, we took a look at some milestones that several hitters could reach in the 2024 season. This time, let’s take a look at the stats on the mound.
First of all, let’s look at two Cy Young award winners. Max Scherzer was traded from the Mets to the Rangers last summer. By far, he already won the Cy Young award 3 times and threw 3367 strikeouts, which rank 11th most of all time. He needs 4 strikeouts to move into the 10th place. In 2023, Scherzer punched out 174 batters. However, Scherzer will miss some months in 2024 because of recovery from back surgery. Meanwhile, Justin Verlander was traded from the Mets to the Astros. Again, Verlander will start the season with the Astros. In 2024, Verlander threw 144 strikeouts and by far in his career, he has 3342 strikeouts, which tie 12th most of all time. If Verlander throws the same number of strikeouts as he did in 2023, he will surpass Greg Maddux’s 3371 career strikeouts.
In addition, Yu Darvish threw 141 strikeouts in 2023 and now he has 1929 strikeouts. Throwing 71 strikeouts in 2024 shouldn’t be too difficult for him. Moreover, Lance Lynn didn’t have a good season in 2023. However, he still had 191 strikeouts last year. Lynn has 1906 career strikeouts and he should be able to reach 2000 strikeouts in 2024. Furthermore, Charlie Morton threw 183 strikeouts in 2023. Morton has 1880 strikeouts so far in his career. Morton just turned 40 years old last November. It will be worthwhile to see if he can reach 2000 strikeouts this year.
Thirdly, Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel each reached 400 saves in 2023. By far, Jansen has earned 420 saves in his career. At the same time, Kimbrel has 417 career saves. Jansen collected 29 saves for the Red Sox in 2023 and Craig Kimbrel picked up 23 saves for the Phillies. In 2024, Jansen shall still be the closer for the Red Sox. Kimbrel inked a one-year deal with the Orioles and shall be the closer. If Jansen and Kimbrel each have 20+ saves in 2024, they will surpass Francisco Rodriguez’s 437 saves. Francisco Rodriguez’s 437 saves are now the 4th most of all time.
Finally, 2 great pitchers are getting close to reaching 3000 strikeouts. Zack Greinke is still a free agent now. He already threw 2979 strikeouts by far in his career and only needs 21 strikeouts to join the 3000-strikeout club. Additionally, Greinke’s former teammate, Clayton Kershaw, just returned to the Dodgers. Kershaw underwent shoulder surgery last November and is expected to pitch in the summer. Kershaw now has 2944 strikeouts in his career.
It could be a great season to see these pitchers reach their career milestones. In particular, Jansen and Kimbrel could move into the top 5 of the leaderboard of career saves at the end of the 2024 season. However, we don’t know if Greinke will agree to a deal soon. Meanwhile, let’s be patient to see Scherzer and Kershaw come back to the mound.
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