3,000-K club members Scherzer, Kershaw set for showdown: How rare is it?

Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer have authored spectacular and historic careers on parallel tracks -- tracks that almost certainly will carry them to Cooperstown five years after they retire.

Those tracks have occasionally crisscrossed over the years, though. The two generational starting pitchers were Dodgers teammates for part of the 2021 season, and they also have locked horns as direct competitors every once in a while. (And when we say “competitors,” we really mean it. Few pitchers in baseball history have been as renowned for their intensity.)

The first intersection between Kershaw and Scherzer came way back in 2008, when both were rookies. The latest intersection -- and perhaps the last -- comes Friday night at Dodger Stadium, where Scherzer will start for the Blue Jays and Kershaw for the Dodgers in an Interleague battle of first-place teams.

So as these two giants of the sport get ready to square off again, let’s dig a little bit deeper and answer some of your burning questions.

How rare is it for two pitchers with 3,000-plus strikeouts to start against each other?

The 3,000-strikeout club is one of baseball’s most exclusive groups, and Kershaw and Scherzer are the two most recent to join it. Both did so with the Dodgers: Scherzer during that brief stint with the team in 2021 and Kershaw back on July 2. They were just the 19th and 20th pitchers to reach that illustrious total.

Naturally, then, matchups between 3,000-strikeout pitchers are historically rare. (To be clear here, we’re talking about pitchers facing each other after already reaching the 3,000 mark, not at any point in their careers.) Because of when many of these pitchers’ careers were clustered, this sort of meeting happened 20 times during the 1980s. However, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, this is only the fourth occurrence since then. Here are the previous three, prior to Kershaw-Scherzer:

• Sept. 6, 2023: Scherzer (TEX) vs. Justin Verlander (HOU)
• Sept. 16, 2007: Curt Schilling (BOS) vs. Roger Clemens (NYY)
• July 19, 2006: Greg Maddux (CHC) vs. Clemens (HOU)

What is the history of their pitching matchups?

For as long as these two pitchers have been going, this is actually only the fifth time they have started against each other, including the fourth during the regular season. Here is a quick look back at their previous clashes:

Sept. 7, 2008 (AZ at LAD): Both pitchers were rookies, and both had a lot of promise, but neither had established himself in the Majors just yet. A twist of fate involving the schedules of a pair of future Hall of Famers (the Dodgers’ Greg Maddux and the D-backs’ Randy Johnson) led to Kershaw and Scherzer facing off for the first time. They gave up three runs apiece and both got no-decisions, although Scherzer was much sharper, striking out 11 against one walk.

Oct. 7, 2016 (LAD at WSH): This was Game 1 of the NL Division Series, snapping a long matchup drought for these two pitchers (which came in part because Scherzer spent 2010-14 with the AL Central’s Tigers after a trade from Arizona). Kershaw (five innings, three runs) got the win and Scherzer (six innings, four runs) took the loss, though neither had his “A” game. They didn’t match up again in this NLDS, although Kershaw, after starting Game 4, came out of the bullpen on one day of rest to close out the series in Game 5 (which Scherzer had started).

April 20, 2018 (WSH at LAD): Scherzer got the upper hand in this one, allowing just one run over six innings for the win. Kershaw (seven innings, four runs) not only took the loss but also surrendered a fifth-inning single to his counterpart, the only hit either pitcher has recorded off the other.

April 11, 2021 (WSH at LAD): Less than four months later, Scherzer would become Kershaw’s teammate, sent from Washington to Los Angeles in a Trade Deadline deal before departing as a free agent in the offseason. But here they were still foes, and Kershaw (six scoreless innings) bested Scherzer (six innings, one run) by a narrow margin for the victory.

So they went from rookie opponents to 3,000-strikeout pitchers?

Yes. Entering their first matchup, nobody could have predicted that both Kershaw and Scherzer one day would reach these heights. The Dodgers lefty had 77 big league strikeouts on his ledger, and that was 43 more than the then-Diamondbacks righty. They were a LONG way from 3,000.

In fact, per Elias, that 2008 game is now the only instance in MLB history in which two pitchers started against each other as rookies and then went on to accrue at least 3,000 strikeouts apiece.

Another fun thing about that matchup from 2008? While both are still active, Kershaw and Scherzer are all but certain to be enshrined in Cooperstown one day. As of now, there have been just two matchups of players to start against each other on the mound as rookies and reach the Hall of Fame, per Elias (going by first year of career for pre-1900). The last was when Kid Nichols faced Cy Young on Sept. 22, 1890. The other was earlier that year on June 18, between Nichols and Jesse Burkett. Burkett became primarily an outfielder after 1890 and is in the Hall as a left fielder. One day, Kershaw and Scherzer in 2008 will join this list.

2008 was a long time ago. Is that also significant?

Indeed. Also per Elias, it’s just the 12th instance of two starting pitchers matching up at least 17 seasons after their first head-to-head meeting. These are now the past five, and incredibly, the previous three all came in the same season.

• 2025: Kershaw vs. Scherzer (first matchup in 2008)
• 2007: John Smoltz vs. Greg Maddux (1990)
• 2007: David Wells vs. Jamie Moyer (1990)
• 2007: Randy Johnson vs. Moyer (1989)
• 1992: Frank Tanana vs. Bert Blyleven (1973)

Who has enjoyed a better career?

This is an interesting debate, because there is very little daylight between the two pitchers statistically speaking. It’s no surprise that when it comes to career numbers for active pitchers, there is almost nobody in the same league as Kershaw and Scherzer -- only each other and Verlander.

Starts: Scherzer 2nd (465), Kershaw 3rd (442)
Innings: Scherzer 2nd (2,919), Kershaw 3rd (2,808 1/3)
Wins: Scherzer 2nd (218), Kershaw 3rd (217)
Strikeouts: Scherzer 2nd (3,451), Kershaw 3rd (3,010)
Pitcher bWAR: Kershaw 2nd (77.4), Scherzer 3rd (74.8)
ERA (^): Kershaw 1st (2.52), Scherzer 5th (3.18)
ERA+ (^): Kershaw 1st (155), Scherzer 5th (132)
WHIP (^): Kershaw 2nd (1.02), Scherzer 4th (1.08)
^Min. 1,000 IP

The similarities don’t end there. Both have won three Cy Young Awards, but Kershaw also has an MVP Award. Both have thrown no-hitters, although Scherzer has two to Kershaw’s one. Both have earned two World Series rings, although Kershaw didn’t pitch during the Dodgers’ 2024 postseason run. Both have been frequent All-Stars, with Kershaw leading in that category, 11 to 8, including his selection as a “Legend Pick” this year.

Basically, it’s a no-wrong-answer type of question. And while Friday’s matchup is not going to move the needle one way or another, it is another notable chapter in a pair of historic, and intertwined, careers.