An incredible milestone.
This week we got to see a truly massive milestone, as Clayton Kershaw became the 20th pitcher to reach 3,000 career strikeouts. This milestone seemed like it might not be possible for Kershaw, who has been injured on and off for the past several seasons. But Kershaw persevered, the Dodgers remained loyal—a rarity among franchises—and Kershaw was able to climb that career mountain.
On Wednesday, Kershaw faced off against the White Sox, and specifically a player who has one single strikeout in his career, and got the big 3,000th strikeout.
More on the Kershaw milestone:
- Jay Jaffe looks at the long road to 3000 strikeouts.
- Mike Kadlick shares fan response to seeing how large a pitching mound is when Kershaw was gifted his.
- Tim Capurso shares the reaction of Kershaw’s family to the big moment.
- Eno Sarris looks at how Kershaw’s slider, specifically, helped him get to his massive milestone. (The Athletic subscription required.)
Now on to the rest of today’s links!
- David Lengel wonders whether the A’s new stadium in Vegas will ever actually be built.
- Here are your MLB All-Star starters! (MLB)
- Dan Gartland shares a hidden gem minor league ballpark.
- Zach Meisel and Ken Rosenthal are reporting that Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz has been placed on “non-disciplinary paid leave” until at least the end of the All-Star break. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- Ryan Phillips shares a trade move the Yankees might make that could impact Jazz Chisholm Jr. and his current role.
- Jim Callis has the latest mock draft just a week ahead of the draft.
- Here is more detail on the reason for the Ortiz suspension.
BREAKING: Cleveland Guardians right-hander Luis Ortiz is being investigated for two individual pitches — one June 15, another June 27 — that received action flagged by a betting-integrity firm, sources tell me and @DavidPurdum. Details free at ESPN: https://t.co/Ib6FwBm5MH
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 3, 2025
- Davy Andrews takes us on a tour through a Wednesday with 19 games played.
- Jay Jaffe looks at the best team defense of 2025 so far.
- Mike McDaniel shares that Jurickson Profar launched an incredible moonshot on his return from PED suspension.
- Jim Bowden looks at which players are most likely to be traded at the deadline. (The Athletic subscription required)
- Theo DeRosa brings us a full list of June’s players of the month.
- Sonja Chen reports that Dodgers’ Max Muncy will be out for at least six weeks due to a bone bruise.
- Ryan Phillips shares three options the Dodgers could use to fill in for Muncy.
- I have never felt older…
James Wood said the HR Derby moment he remembers most from watching *as a kid* is Harper’s win in DC in 2018. So I’ll be putting an AARP patch on my sleeve now too.
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) July 3, 2025
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.