Justin Verlander Reaches 2,000 Career Strikeouts: Latest Comments, Reaction

Detroit Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander reached the 2,000-strikeout milestone on Wednesday against the Minnesota Twins. 

Verlander's historic punchout came on a high fastball against Twins outfielder Eddie Rosario in the fourth inning: 

Verlander's 2,000th strikeout put him sixth among active starting pitchers and tied him with Andy Benes for 75th on Major League Baseball's career list. 

Rank	Pitcher	Career K's
1	CC Sabathia	2,595
2	Bartolo Colon	2,273
3	Felix Hernandez	2,184
4	Jake Peavy	2,141
5	John Lackey	2,012
6	Justin Verlander	2,000

Per Anthony Fenech, Verlander also became the second pitcher in Tigers history to record 2,000 strikeouts:

Fenech also took a trip down memory lane to remember Verlander's first strikeout 11 years ago when he debuted on July 4, 2005:

Fittingly, Verlander's 2,000th strikeout was also of the swinging variety. 

The 33-year-old Verlander is no longer at the height of his powers, when he was winning the Cy Young and MVP awards in the same season. He entered play Wednesday with a 4.71 ERA and eight home runs allowed in 49.2 innings pitched. 

However, one skill that has not yet abandoned Verlander is the ability to miss bats. He had more strikeouts (50) than innings pitched coming into Tuesday's game. 

It's been a rough start to 2016 for the Tigers, who are in fourth place in the American League Central. Verlander's milestone doesn't turn all of their fortunes around, but it does give the team and their fans a reason to celebrate his reign of dominance.

Stats per Baseball-Reference.com.