Phillies’ Aaron Nola joins elusive club with 2,000th career strikeout

With the Philadelphia Phillies trying to challenge the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League (NL) and have an exciting finish to the last half of the season, there is some momentum gained from starting pitcher Aaron Nola. As the Phillies look for any boost after the trade deadline, Nola would achieve history on Saturday against the Toronto Blue Jays.

In the top of the second inning on a 2-2 pitch to Brandon Valenzuela with one out in the frame, Nola would throw a 93-mile-per-hour sinker that led to the strikeout. With the punchout, that marks Nola’s 2,000th strikeout in his career, making him the seventh active player to have that many, according to league insider Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.

“Aaron Nola just struck out Brandon Valenzuela, becoming the seventh active pitcher to record 2,000 career strikeouts,” Feinsand wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Aaron Nola hits the 2,000 career strikeout milestone pic.twitter.com/HVFOYdS7uy

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Not a lot of pitchers have careers long and productive enough to get 2,000 strikeouts, as Nola is the 94th player to get the mark. Even more impressive for Nola, he is the 10th fastest pitcher in MLB history to get the mark, via Talkin’ Baseball. Looking at it from Philadelphia’s history, there is only one other pitcher with the Phillies who has gotten that many, and it’s Hall of Fame player Steve Carlton.

There’s no denying that achieving that many strikeouts in a career is something to celebrate, though Nola’s year has been underwhelming, as he entered Saturday’s game with a 5.55 ERA, 121 strikeouts and a 3-9 record in 23 starts. At any rate, Nola continues to cement himself as a productive pitcher for the ball club.

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