Pitchers approaching career milestones in 2024

The 2024 season is now underway. It’s a time of renewed hope for at least the vast majority of teams. It also opens the opportunity for a few veteran players to continue building on what have already been very accomplished careers, some of which should happen early in the year.

Wins

There’s no pitcher who’s particularly close to a magic round number – unless we drop all the way down to 100, which is notable but not especially illustrious. However, Justin Verlander’s win total will still be worth tracking. The Houston ace will begin the season on the injured list but is hopeful of a quick return. The three-time Cy Young winner is at 257 wins in his career and will pass Ted Lyons for 41st all-time if he records even four victories this year. Eight wins will push Verlander into the top 40, surpassing Gus Weyhing. With nine wins, he’ll leapfrog Jim McCormick. Ten victories will be enough to overtake both Eppa Rixey and Bob Feller. With a dozen wins, Verlander will move past Jim Palmer. Recording 13 wins will eclipse Jamie Moyer, while 14 will pass Mike Mussina and Burleigh Grimes. Perhaps 17 is a long shot, but if Verlander can get to that point, he’ll pass Red Ruffing and move into 32nd place all-time. Each of Lyons, Rixey, Feller, Palmer, Mussina, Grimes and Ruffing is a Hall of Famer – a distinction that surely awaits Verlander in the future.

As an aside, Verlander would also become just the fifth pitcher to ever record 200-plus strikeouts in 10 seasons of his career. Again, starting out on the injured list doesn’t help his chances. He hasn’t topped 200 in a season since fanning 300 back in 2019, but there’s always a slim chance. Only Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens and Tom Seaver have recorded 10 or more seasons of 200 punchouts.

Saves

Heading into the 2024 season, the current No. 7 and 8 names on the all-time saves list will have active closer’s jobs: Kenley Jansen (Red Sox) and Craig Kimbrel (Orioles). Jansen currently boasts 420 saves. Kimbrel is at 417. Jansen and Kimbrel not only have a chance to finish the season in MLB’s top five all-time saves leaders – it seems quite likely both will get there with good health. Jansen needs three saves to pass Billy Wagner, five to pass John Franco and 18 to pass Francisco Rodriguez, who’s currently fourth all-time. Kimbrel is only three saves behind him, so he needs just six, eight and 21 to wind up in the top five right behind Jansen. It’s also possible the two will flip spots, given the proximity on the current leaderboards.

Way down the list, Braves closer Raisel Iglesias enters the season with 190 career saves. That puts him 58th all-time. He has a strong chance to become the 54th pitcher to ever reach 200 saves in a career. Iglesias saved 33 games for the Braves in 2023 and if he repeats that he’ll jump to 45th all-time. He’ll pitch this season at 34 and if he can remain a serviceable closer into his mid- and late-30s, he has a decent chance at passing Jason Isringhausen and Bruce Sutter – both at exactly 300 saves – and becoming just the 32nd pitcher to ever reach that milestone, though clearly that’ll take another few years.

Other possibilities to reach 200 saves this season include David Robertson, who currently sits at 175 saves in his career and Josh Hader, who’s sitting on 165. Jose Leclerc might get first crack at the ninth inning over Robertson, but he’s been inconsistent and had his share of injuries. Hader is the clear favorite for saves in Houston, but he’s only reached 35 saves in a single season twice before. Both pitchers could get to that nice round number given their presence as late-inning options on contending clubs.

Taking a slightly different approach to career save totals, Kimbrel is already one of just four players in MLB history to have five or more seasons of 40-plus saves, joining Mariano Rivera (9), Trevor Hoffman (9) and the previously mentioned K-Rod (6). He hasn’t had a 40-save season since 2018, but if he can turn back the clock he would tie Rodriguez with his sixth 40-save season. Similarly, Jansen is one of just 10 pitchers to ever have four seasons of 40 or more saves. He reached that mark as recently as 2022. A 40-save season would tie him with Kimbrel at five and make him just the fifth pitcher to ever enjoy five such seasons.

Strikeouts

Max Scherzer likely won’t pitch in the season’s first half, but if he takes the ball at all this year he’ll be a virtual lock to move into 10th place on the all-time strikeout list, surpassing Hall of Famer Greg Maddux. Mad Max’s 3,367 punchouts are just four behind the Professor. With a full season, Scherzer might’ve had a shot at Walter Johnson’s ninth-place mark (3509), but that’ll likely have to wait for future seasons – assuming Scherzer keeps going after the ’24 campaign.

The aforementioned Verlander is only 25 strikeouts behind Scherzer and thus all but certain to pass his former teammate. Verlander is currently tied with Phil Niekro at 3,442, meaning his next strikeout will give him sole possession of 11th place all-time. And if he can return early enough in the 2024 season, Verlander will have a shot at the 168 strikeouts he needs to inch past Johnson on the all-time list. He’d need 193 to pass Gaylord Perry for eighth all-time, which probably won’t happen this year, but Verlander has said he wants to pitch into his mid-40s and has an option on his contract for the 2025 season.

We don’t know when Clayton Kershaw will pitch this year or whether the still-unsigned Zack Greinke will pitch at all, but both are within arm’s reach of 3,000 punchouts in their respective careers. Only 19 pitchers have ever done so. Kershaw needs 56 whiffs to get to that point and is hopeful of rejoining the Dodgers’ rotation in the second half after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery. His deal comes with a 2025 option, so even if 3000 doesn’t happen this year, there’s a good chance we’ll see it in ’25. Greinke is just 21 strikeouts away from 3,000. A return to the Royals seems unlikely, but if he decides he wants to pitch and chase down that 3000 milestone, he’d surely garner some interest from teams seeking depth.

There are a handful of names chasing down the 2,000-strikeout mark as well. As of this writing, 87 pitchers have reached that threshold in MLB history. Yu Darvish, who currently has 1,932 strikeouts, needs just 68 more to get there. Darvish, Lance Lynn (1,906 strikeouts) and Charlie Morton (1,880) are all practically locks to get to 2,000 with full, healthy seasons.

Total Appearances

Jansen already ranks 50th all-time with 817 games pitched, but he can jump into the top-40 if he makes it into 32 games this season. He is already one of only 54 pitchers to ever reach 800 appearances in his career.

Three more names will likely join that 800 club – two of whom I’ve already mentioned: Robertson (793 games) and Kimbrel (780). The third is veteran righty Bryan Shaw, who’s reportedly likely to make the White Sox’ roster. At 791 appearances, he already ranks 59th all-time. With just nine games this season, the rubber-armed Shaw can further his workhorse reputation and perhaps move into the top 50 all time.