Jacob deGrom struck out the first two batters he faced Thursday night against the Washington Nationals, Daylen Lile swinging through a first-pitch slider, then Abimelec Ortiz chasing a 1-2 slider below the zone, and with those two pitches reached 2,000 career strikeouts in his 272nd game.
Only Randy Johnson got there faster, in 262 games. The Rangers dugout stood.
DeGrom tapped his cap over his heart. Then he went out and threw six shutout innings with 10 strikeouts total in a 2-0 win.
He also reached the milestone in the second-fewest innings ever, 1,661, behind only Chris Sale's 1,626. He passed Yu Darvish for second on that list and Clayton Kershaw for second by games.
DeGrom is 38 years old and 9-8 with a 3.77 ERA in his fourth season with Texas.
The 2.67 career ERA is the best among qualified active starters in baseball history. He missed all of 2023 with Tommy John surgery and all of 2024 with a second elbow procedure.
He has pitched in fewer than 500 career innings since his first two Cy Young seasons with the Mets. The 2,000 strikeouts in so few innings are the proof of what he is, the most efficient strikeout pitcher the game has ever seen.
"Maybe whenever my career is over I'll look at that kind of stuff," he said.