Certain names carry immense weight in the history books among Major League Baseball pitchers, and Justin Verlander is becoming one of them.
Verlander may be just 2-10 this season, but the San Francisco Giants right-hander is still hanging in there at the age of 42. He got his 264th career win over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, but there was even more history at stake.
According to MLB.com, Verlander’s first-inning strikeout of Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker was the 3,516th of his career, which moved him into ninth place all-time among MLB pitchers. Who did he pass? None other than the legendary Walter Johnson.
Johnson, a two-time Most Valuable Player, won a ridiculous 417 games for the Washington Senators from 1907 to 1927. His 110 career shutouts are the most of any pitcher in history.
It was almost difficult for Verlander to gain perspective on just what he’d done.
“Maybe when I rest my head on my pillow (Tuesday), or maybe in the offseason. I don’t know,” Verlander said, per Andrés Soto of MLB.com. “Last few years, especially coming back from Tommy John, it’s been an emphasis of mine to pay attention a little bit more to things.”
Verlander missed a month this season with right pectoral soreness, and he’s frequently been victimized by the Giants’ bullpen, which is putting a dent in his goal to reach 300 wins. Still, passing the pitcher known as the “Big Train” still has to count as a massive win in a difficult season.
“You can get so stuck in the mindset of just grinding,” Verlander said, per Soto. “And this year has been really tough for that. It’s been really hard for me not to crawl into my little shell. My family helps a lot off the field. And here, we got a great group of guys. They’ve helped a lot. So, just relish in the positives.”
Verlander ended the night at 3,520 punchouts. To get to eighth on the all-time list, he’ll need just 15 more this season to pass Giants legend Gaylord Perry.
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