Last night Felix Hernandez beat the Red Sox while racking up seven strikeouts in 7.2 innings of two-run ball and in doing so became the fourth-youngest pitcher in baseball history to reach 1,000 career strikeouts. Here are the leaders, according to Elias Sports Bureau:
YEAR AGE Bob Feller 1941 22 years, 179 days Bert Blyleven 1974 23 years, 131 days Dwight Gooden 1988 23 years, 249 days Felix Hernandez 2010 24 years, 139 days
That’s an interesting list, because while Blyleven ranks fifth all time with 3,701 career strikeouts neither Feller nor Gooden crack the top 25. Feller ranks 26th with 2,581 and Gooden ranks 46th with 2,293. As for King Felix this season, poor run support from the Mariners’ horrendous offense leaves him with a 10-10 record despite leading the league with 205 innings and posting a career-best 2.47 ERA that ranks third in the AL. Last season he finished second in the Cy Young voting while posting a 2.49 ERA in 239 innings, but also had a 19-5 record to help his cause with voters.