In fewer than 3 weeks, pitchers and catchers will report to their teams’ spring training facilities. So, baseball is gradually back after the winter. The 2024 season was an unforgettable one. In the 2025 season, there are more to come.
Before pitchers and catchers report to the camp, let’s quickly take a look at some milestones that might be reached in the new season.
Firstly, let’s look at strikeouts. Clayton Kershaw only made 7 starts in 2024 and threw 24 strikeouts. So far in his career, he has 2968 strikeouts. He’s very close to reaching 3000 strikeouts. However, he underwent knee and foot surgeries last year. It will be very important for him to stay healthy in the 2025 season and make more starts. Then, we shall see him join the 3000-strikeout club. Nonetheless, he hasn’t signed a contract yet.
Max Scherzer, who’s still a free agent now, has 3407 strikeouts so far in his career and Justin Verlander already struck out 3416 batters. They are not so far from Walter Johnson’s 3509 career strikeouts, which are the 9th most of all time. Nonetheless, Verlander only made 17 starts in 2024 with 74 strikeouts and Scherzer made only 9 starts with 40 strikeouts. Again, these 2 future Hall of Famers have to stay healthy first and we could possibly see them surpass Walter Johnson’s record in 2025. But let’s see when Scherzer will ink a deal first.
Well, win might not be as important as it used to be. However, it’s still a record in baseball. In the 2025 season, it will be possible to see several pitchers reach 100 wins. Jose Berrios now has 99 wins in his career. With little doubt, he will soon earn the 100th win of his career. Kyle Hendricks signed a 1-year contract with the Angels. He has 97 wins so far in his career. It’s not so far from 100 wins. Nonetheless, he only earned 4 wins in 2024. So, it will be interesting to see if he will reach this milestone soon. Moreover, Nathan Eovaldi is back to the Rangers. He got 12 wins in 2024 and now has 91 wins thus far in his career. If he can replicate his performance in 2024, he will be able to get his 100th win in the majors.
Finally, Josh Hader already collected 199 saves in his career. Hader picked up 30+ saves in 2024. It shouldn’t take too long for him to reach the 200th save in his career. At the same time, Aroldis Chapman now has 335 saves in his career. 335 saves now rank 16th most of all time. Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers had 341 saves and Randy Myers collected 347 saves. Chapman played for the Pirates in 2024 and collected 14 saves. Well, it’s possible to see Chapman surpass their saves records in 2025. Chapman signed a 1-year deal with the Red Sox last December. Nonetheless, it’s unknown if he will be the closer for the Red Sox.
With pitchers and catchers reporting to the camp soon, the 2025 season will come soon. It will be possible to see several pitchers reach key milestones in their careers. Kershaw didn’t reach 3000 strikeouts in 2024. This season, he has to stay healthy first and let’s see when he will join the 3000-strikeout club. At the same time, we probably won’t wait too long to see Berrios’ 100th win and Hader’s 200th save.
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