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Where Does Clayton Kershaw Rank Among the Best Pitchers of the 21st Century?
Los Angeles Dodgers Star Pitcher Enters the 3,000-Strikeout Club
An Elite Player
LA Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw recently made MLB news by becoming only the 20th pitcher in history to strike out 3,000 batters. But where do we slot Kershaw against the all-time greats and his contemporaries?
The Ace of Base
Clayton Kershaw is certainly one of the league’s historically dominant pitchers and should never be confused with the ’90s Swedish pop band, Ace of Base, that had a few hits but never seems to go away. Although the group is horrendous, the real Ace of Base, Clayton Kershaw, is among the best.
CLAYTON KERSHAW 💪
3,000 CAREER STRIKEOUTS! pic.twitter.com/aG2mQcAFKa
— MLB (@MLB) July 3, 2025
At age 37, he just became the most recent inductee into the hallowed halls of the 3000-strikeout club, and a case could be made that he is among the best to ever do it. He joins such luminaries as Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, and one of my personal favorites, Greg Maddux, to name but a few.
However, other active pitchers like Kershaw continue to ply their trade in the twilight of their careers and also occupy the rarified air of the 3000 K Club, like Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. But while Verlander is 42 and Scherzer is 40, Kershaw just turned 37, and a case can be made that he’s the best of the bunch.
Kershaw’s stats can hold up against anyone’s, and he has pitched in 441 MLB games over his 18-year career. He is a 10x All-Star, 3x Cy Young Winner, and has a pair of World Series rings with the only team he’s ever known—the LA Dodgers.
Although MLB rumors continue to swirl regarding whether or not Kersh will be back in Dodger blue next season, he still has a knack for getting hitters to swing and miss. The Dodgers should consider themselves lucky that they have a pitcher of his caliber locked up this season for cheap money. Clayton Kershaw’s contract shows he has a one-year deal for $7.5 million.
Don’t the waterboys make that?
The Kershaw family’s reaction to Clayton reaching 3,000 career strikeouts. 😭 pic.twitter.com/OPhE9Gt2s0
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 3, 2025
The King of K’s
It was a humid Friday night at Dodger Stadium, and Clayton Kershaw, under the white-hot spotlight of history and a raucous home crowd cheering his every pitch, rose to the occasion and cemented his legacy as a surefire, first-ballot Hall of Famer by delivering a devastating slider that froze the immortal Vinny Capra and led the Dodgers to a 5-4 victory over the White Sox.
CLAYTON KERSHAW. HISTORY MADE.
3,000 strikeouts
10x All-Star
3x Cy Young Award Winner
2011 Pitching Triple Crown
2014 National League MVP
2x World Series Champion
Legend pic.twitter.com/1STrb7J6zV— MLB (@MLB) July 3, 2025
I don’t mean to be a Debby Downer, but it was not a vintage performance by Kershaw. He allowed four earned runs and walked off the hill to a roaring crowd in the sixth. But it was a historic occasion nonetheless and reflected the culmination of an elite athlete’s body of work.
Afterwards, Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts said, “I think I can speak for everyone. We witnessed history. It’s the last box for Clayton to check in his tremendous career. To be able to do it at home in front of our fans is something we were all looking forward to. I can’t wait to celebrate with him.”
Where does Kershaw rank? In my opinion, he’s the best pitcher of the 21st century, and that includes Verlander, Scherzer, Cole, and Sale. Heady company, no doubt, but this is a caliber of lefty we may never see again.
