Can Justin Verlander get to 3,000 career strikeouts in 2019?

At the age of 36, Justin Verlander continues to impress. Might he be able to reach the exclusive 3,000 career strikeout club in 2019?

On Monday night, Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander lost to Jake Odorizzi and the Minnesota Twins by a score of 1-0. While it was Verlander’s first loss of the season, he has now racked up six or more strikeouts in six of his first seven starts. He has a 10.8 K/9 on the season, averaging more strikeouts than innings pitched.

Last season, Verlander had a career-high 12.2 K/9 and achieved a new career-high in total strikeouts, finishing with a league-leading 290. It was the fifth time that he led the league in Ks.

More from Call to the Pen

• Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
• Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
• Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
• Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
• 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals

For his career, Verlander now has a total of 2,759 career strikeouts. He is inching ever so closer to the exclusive 3,000 strikeout club. There have only been 16 pitchers who have recorded 3,000 strikeouts in MLB history. Moreover, 14 of those 16 pitchers have been inducted into Cooperstown. Getting to 3,000 strikeouts could very likely all but secure Verlander’s place in the Hall of Fame.

Right now, New York Yankees starter C.C. Sabathia is sitting on 2,997 career strikeouts, meaning that he is poised to become the 17th member of the 3,000 strikeout club — and likely very soon.  He could easily get there as soon as Tuesday night when he and the Yankees take on Zack Greinke and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Assuming Verlander stays healthy, which he has throughout most of his career, he appears to be a safe bet to become the 18th member of the club.  But can he get there as soon as this year?

Well, in order for Verlander to get to 3,000 career Ks, he would have to finish the season with 294 strikeouts, beating his previous career-high from a season ago. If Verlander is able to get to 3,000 career strikeouts, it would mark the first time that two pitchers were able to achieve that milestone in the same season since Tom Seaver and Steve Carlton did it in 1981 (assuming that Sabathia also gets there.)

If Justin Verlander doesn’t get to 3,000 strikeouts in 2019, he should at least come awfully close, presuming he makes his usual 32-plus starts. At any rate, with plans to pitch into his mid-40s, Verlander should have plenty of time to get to 3,000 strikeouts — and perhaps well beyond.