In the second inning against the Toronto Blue Jays Saturday night, Aaron Nola reached a milestone that only 94 players in Major League Baseball history have reached: 2,000 strikeouts.
Reaching the mark in 309 games, Nola is now tied with Sam McDowell to as the 10th-fastest player to reach the milestone in MLB history.
A career recapped
Originally drafted in the 22nd round of the 2011 MLB Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays, 18-year-old Aaron Nola opted to go to college, pitching for Louisiana State University.
In 2014, the Phillies used their seventh overall pick in the Draft to make the Louisiana native a Philadelphian. Ironically, 15 years after the Blue Jays attempted to draft him, Nola pitched his 2,000th career strikeout against the Blue Jays.
The road to 2,000 took 12 years of Major League action for Nola. 1,835.2 innings. 845 runs allowed. 245 home runs.
For much of his career, Nola was a top pitcher in the league, earning votes for National League Cy Young on four separate occasions. In recent years, however, Nola has struggled to find some of his shine.
Nola always had an issue when it came to allowing home runs. For much of his career, like clockwork, Nola seemed to allow a home run every start.
Recently, however, the rate has increased. Going into Saturday, Nola has allowed 46 home runs across 40 starts in the past two seasons. Nola’s ERA on that stretch has been 5.75.
Despite the amplification of every mistake made by the Louisiana native, Nola continued to rack up the strikeouts, pitching for a 9.2 SO/9.
Taking care of business
Saturday night found Nola facing some of those same demons. With two outs in the top of the first, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. connected on an inside fastball from Nola, sending it 408 feet into the left field stands for a solo home run.
Nola rebounded to end the inning, catching Jesús Sánchez looking on a full count sinker to record his first strikeout.
Nola returned to the mound for the top of the second inning, allowing a leadoff single to Ernie Clement. With a runner on, Nola caught Andrés Giménez swinging on a changeup down and out of the zone for his 1,999th strikeout.
He would not need to wait long for number 2,000. On a 2-2 pitch to Brandon Valenzuela Nola placed a sinker on the inner edge of the plate for a called strike three.
As his walk-out song “I Am Second” by the Newboys rang throughout the stadium, Nola was embraced by a standing ovation from the Philadelphia faithful.
After the ovation subsided, Nola got Josh Smith on four pitches, striking out the side on the inning.
Where Nola stands
Nola became just the 94th pitcher in Major League history and seventh active pitcher to reach 2,000 career strikeouts.
He is also the fifth pitcher to record his 2,000th career strikeout while wearing a Phillies uniform, joining Jim Bunning, Steve Carlton, Jamie Moyer and Roy Halladay.
But Nola’s place in franchise history is even more exclusive. Because all 2,000 of his strikeouts have come with Philadelphia, he is just the second pitcher in Phillies history to record 2,000 strikeouts for the club. Only Carlton, with 3,031, has more.
At just 33 years old, Nola has already pitched the seventh-most innings in Phillies history.
With his 2,000th strikeout now secured and a contract that will keep him in Philadelphia through 2030, Nola still has plenty of time to continue climbing the franchise record books and further cement his place among the most accomplished pitchers to wear a Phillies uniform.