Padres Yu Darvish First Japanese-Born Pitcher to Reach 2,000 Career Strikeouts; 90th in MLB History!
Could you strikeout a major leaguer? Well, even if you got lucky, you probably couldn’t do it again a few thousand times. Yet, there are some ball hurlers who can and we all tip our caps to them. The latest to achieve an insane pitching feat? The San Diego Padres Yu Darvish is the first Japanese-Born pitcher to reach 2,000 career strikeouts and the 90th in MLB History!
So then, congratulations to Darvish; he becomes the 8th active player to reach 2,000 career strikeouts. He’s an outstanding pitcher that is also showcasing how longevity on the mound is possible. Plus, Yu missed time during the 2024 season and was still able to come back and be dominant.
What’s interesting though, is that Darvish is not the only athlete in baseball to hit the 2K milestone this year. Literally, just weeks ago, in Major League Baseball history (as of August 13); there had been only 89 pitchers to ever record 2,000 strikeouts. In August 2024, Charlie Morgan (89th) added his name to the pitchers who have recorded 2k career strikeouts. At the time, Morgan joined Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw, Chris Sale, Gerrit Cole and Lance Lynn as the only active pitchers who have reached this mark. But now, Yu Darvish gets to etch his name in the same stone.
Darvish who is always classy. Kept it extremely short when he posted online to his fans about becoming the first Japanese-born pitcher to toss 2000 strikeouts. Yu states, “2,000! Thank you for all your support!” As we said, short and sweet.
Nevertheless, he did say a bit more to Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Darvish mentions,
“Very grateful. It just kind of tells you how long I’ve been able to stay in the game … That doesn’t happen by accident. I’m just really grateful for all the help and the support that I have gotten along the way.”
Padres Yu Darvish First Japanese-Born Pitcher to Reach 2,000 Career Strikeouts; 90th in MLB History!
No, Darvish being an absolute beast on the mound is not an “accident.” Even before signing with the Texas Rangers in 2012, Darvish also struck out 1,250 in Nippon Professional Baseball. He has a total of 3,253 strikeouts across both leagues.
Yet, San Diego fans get to still be on “record watch.” Yu Darvish is currently also within reach of another milestone — career wins by a Japanese-born pitcher. Darvish has a total of 202 combined career wins across MLB and NPB, bringing him one shy of Hiroki Kuroda. Game… ON.
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