Kevin Gausman Isn't the Only Blue Jay Who Could Reach 2,000 Strikeouts
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Monday night marked Kevin Gausman's worst start of the 2026 season, as the Toronto Blue Jays ace coughed up six earned runs and 10 hits in just 4.2 innings against the Tampa Bay Rays. It wasn't, however, without a little bit of history for the 35-year-old two-time All-Star.
With five strikeouts on the night, Gausman joined the 2,000-strikeout club, becoming just the sixth active pitcher to achieve the feat. He joins Justin Verlander, Chris Sale, Gerrit Cole, Yu Darvish and teammate Max Scherzer in reaching the lofty platform.
Now that Gausman has made it, it's only natural to look at who might be next in line. Sonny Gray (Boston Red Sox), Aaron Nola (Philadellphia Phillies) and Jacob deGrom (Texas Rangers) are within 100 strikeouts of the milestone
Looking within the Blue Jays' organization, Gausman and Scherzer could eventually by joined by other members of the team's pitching staff who have a potential path to 2,000 strikeouts.
Patrick Corbin
Though he hasn't spent much time in Toronto, Patrick Corbin has certainly been around the big leagues for a while. And he has the strikeout totals to prove it.
A veteran of 14 seasons and 380 career appearances, Corbin has twice logged over 200 K's en route to a career total of 1,882 after Tuesday's start against the Tampa Bay Rays. Based on his strikeout pace in recent seasons, the 36-year-old should hit the 2,000 mark some time next year. As it stands, he ranks 10th on the all-time strikeout list among active pitchers, a testament to what has quietly been a very strong major league career.
José Berríos
Often a forgotten part of the Blue Jays' pitching corps, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that José Berríos has recorded between 138 and 204 strikeouts in each season since 2017, with the exception of the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. That consistency has Berríos higher up on the whiff charts than you might expect for a 31-year-old not necessarily known for making bats miss.
And yet, there is Berríos with 1,481 strikeouts to his name. No, he won't notch the 519 K's he still needs anytime soon, but even a modest 130 per year will get him there in four seasons. First, however, he'll need to work his way back to the mound following complications stemming from a right elbow stress fracture and stay healthy.
Dylan Cease
At 1,297 career strikeouts, Dylan Cease still has a ways to go in the chase for 2,000, but he still has time on his side. He currently ranks 24th among active pitchers in career strikeouts and is the youngest member of the top-25. And with six more years remaining on his contract with Toronto, plenty of those K's may come as a member of the Blue Jays.
Cease has rung up 66 batters in eight outings so far this season, putting him well on pace for what would be a sixth consecutive season of over 200 strikeouts. If he keeps up his current pace, the 30-year-old should hit the milestone in the next three or four years.
To recap, that's two Blue Jays pitchers (Scherzer and Gausman) who are now members of the 2,000-strikeout club and three more who could eventually get there. And that doesn't include 2020 AL strikeouts leader Shane Bieber (if he ever gets healthy enough) and Trey Yesavage, who has a long way to go but profiles as a pretty effective strikeout collector.
Congratulations to Gausman on his impressive milestone. For Toronto, there could be more to come.
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Ben Fisher is a long-time sportswriter and baseball lover, dating back to 2008, when he was a member of the media relations team for the Toronto Blue Jays. He has covered a wide range of sports for a seemingly endless array of publications, including The Canadian Press, Fansided and The Hockey Writers. When he isn't writing about sports, he can be found coaching his equally baseball-obsessed sons' Little League teams.