New San Francisco Giants Pitching Star Chasing Big Milestone This Season

The San Francisco Giants signed veteran ace Justin Verlander to give them a backbone for their rotation that is led by Logan Webb.

San Francisco is not expecting the 42-year-old to be the ace that he was just a few years ago. But, if Verlander can take the ball every fifth day and give them six quality innings each turn, that would be more than enough to justify his one-year salary of $15 million.

It would also put him in a position to join a handful of Hall-of-Fame pitchers that have reached a key career milestone.

BrooksGate, a social media account that tracks baseball statistics, posted recently that Verlander is just 84 strikeouts away from reaching 3,500 strikeouts for his career.

milestone watch pic.twitter.com/sulYS1lnsR
— BrooksGate (@Brooks_Gate) January 22, 2025

Verlander has 3,416 strikeouts and is already 10th on the all-time list. But only nine pitchers have struck out at least 3,500 hitters and is a list of Hall-of-Famers that Verlander will likely join one day.

Within Verlander’s immediate sights is Walter Johnson (3,509) and Gaylord Perry (3,534), the latter of which played for the Giants at one time. Passing both would move Verlander up to No. 8 all-time.

The list is highlighted by Nolan Ryan, the 26-year veteran whose 5,714 strikeouts is nearly 1,000 strikeouts ahead of Randy Johnson, who is second with 4,875. Johnson ended his career with San Francisco.

Behind the pair is Roger Clemens, who isn’t in the Hall of Fame due to his connections to performance-enhancing drugs during his career. He struck out 4,672 hitters.

After that, it’s Steve Carlton (4,136), Bert Blyleven (3,701), Tom Seaver (3,640) and Don Sutton (3,574).

Verlander is coming off perhaps the worst season of his career. Due to injuries, he only made 17 starts, going 5-6 with a 5.48 ERA with 74 strikeouts and 27 walks.

For his career, he is 262-147 with a 3.30 ERA, putting him among the top pitchers in history.

He’s won three Cy Young award, all in the American League and most recently in 2022 with the Houston Astros, when he went 18-4 with a 1.75 ERA. With 218 strikeouts, he won the AL pitching triple crown. He also won an AL pitching triple crown in 2011.

He also has two World Series rings, both of which came with the Astros in 2017 and 2022.

He is a nine-time All-Star, the 2011 American League MVP, a two-time All-MLB first team selection, the 2006 AL rookie of the year and the 2022 AL comeback player of the year, as he was coming off Tommy John surgery, which led to him missing the entire 2021 campaign.

He also led the AL in victories four times, ERA twice, strikeouts five times and has pitched three no-hitters, the last of which was in 2019.

He is one of only six pitchers that have three or more no-hitters for their career.