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The New York Yankees lost Gerrit Cole for the season but he's just 34 years old and should have plenty left in the tank when he returns.
His name recently was brought up with Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers approaching history. Kershaw is just 30 strikeouts away from becoming the 20th pitching in Major League Baseball history to reach 3,000 strikeouts.
FOX Sports talked about the topic and projected guys who could reach that threshold as well and mentioned Cole.
"The next candidate for 3,000 K's is Gerrit Cole, who is currently recovering from Tommy John surgery," FOX Sports said. "The Yankees’ ace is out for all of 2025 after undergoing the procedure, but he’s expected to be back in 2026. He sits at 2,251 strikeouts, averaging 214 of them per year from 2017 through 2024, despite the pandemic-shortened 2020 and an injury-shortened 2024. From 2021 through 2023, Cole recorded 243, a league-leading 257, and 222 strikeouts.
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"Assuming everything goes right with his surgery and recovery, then there’s little reason to expect him to pitch much differently in 2026. So he’s further away than Sale, but might have a better chance of actually getting there when you consider that he’s two years younger and has proven more durable overall."
Right now, Cole is at 2,251 strikeouts in his career. Could he reach that magic number?
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Patrick McAvoy's experiences include local and national sportswriting across baseball, football and basketball. He has provided coverage for the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Philadelphia Eagles and Boston Celtics throughout his career.
Outside of journalism, Patrick also has received a Masters of Business Administration Degree from Brandeis University and studied communication and business at Merrimack College where he earned his Bachelor's Degree.
English (US)