Verlander Breaks into the Top 10 on All-Time Strikeout List
The future Hall of Famer keeps adding more knocks to his resume. Last night during a 6-3 win over the Athletics in Oakland, Houston Astros starter, two-time World Series champion Justin Verlander surpassed Hall of Famer Greg Maddux on the top-10 all-time strikeout list. Verlander entered the game three strikeouts shy of surpassing Maddux and after striking out Abraham Toro to end the bottom of the second inning, the 41-year-old starter cracked into the top 10. He now enters a top-10 strikeout list full of Hall of Famers.
Verlander now has 3,377 all-time strikeouts. He has a long way to go to pass Walter Johnson, who recorded 3,515. The 41-year-old former teammate, Max Scherzer has ten fewer strikeouts than Verlander does all-time with 3,367. The next active pitcher who is close to the 3,000-strikeout mark is Dodgers future Hall of Fame starter Clayton Kershaw with 2,944. With the win last night, Verlander earned his 260th career win tying him with Hall of Famer Ted Lyons. It will be interesting to see how many strikeouts the Astros starter finishes his career with, whether he can surpass Walter Johnson, and if he can help this Houston team continue winning.
After an extremely slow start to the season, the Houston Astros are 23-28. They’re third in the AL West division, a half a game behind the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers, and three and a half games behind the first-place Seattle Mariners. If they can hit that .500 mark, the Astros will certainly be a team to be on the lookout for. They’re certainly determined to make it back to the World Series after losing to the Rangers during the American League Championship Series.
