The major milestones within reach for star players in 2025

With each new baseball season, there are always more milestones to look out for -- and 2025 is no exception to that rule.

Here is a look at some major milestones on the horizon for 2025 and beyond, along with a breakdown of each player’s chances of getting there this year.

Spencer Strider: 500 strikeouts
2023’s MLB leader in strikeouts enters with 495 in his career in just 329 2/3 innings, putting him on track to not just reach the milestone, but get there in fewer innings than any other pitcher who started in at least 50% of his appearances by the time of his 500th strikeout, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The five fastest, per those qualifiers:

Freddy Peralta: 372 IP
Shohei Ohtani: 388 2/3 IP
Tyler Glasnow: 398 1/3 IP
Dylan Cease: 399 1/3 IP
José Fernández: 400 IP

Will it happen?
Barring something unforeseen, this one is just a matter of when. He’s five away. He’s had fewer than five strikeouts in just six of his 54 career starts, so his doing this in one game isn’t outside the realm of possibility.

Tyler Glasnow: 1,000 strikeouts
Glasnow enters with 846 career strikeouts in 663 2/3 innings. Glasnow is on pace to have the fewest innings to the reach mark among pitchers who started in at least 50% of their appearances by the time of their 1,000th strikeout, according to Elias. The list:

Robbie Ray: 810 IP
Yu Darvish: 812 IP
Blake Snell: 820 2/3 IP
Dylan Cease: 830 1/3 IP
Corbin Burnes: 850 1/2 IP

Will it happen?
Glasnow is 154 strikeouts away. Last season, he had 168 strikeouts in 134 innings, and in 2023, he had 162 strikeouts in 120 innings. Based on his career numbers, he’s on pace to reach this mark in fewer than 785 innings, which would top the list and then some.

Pete Alonso: Mets all-time home run leader
Since he debuted in 2019, the only player with more home runs than Alonso’s 226 is Aaron Judge (232). After re-signing with the Mets in the offseason, he enters the year third on the Mets' all-time home run list, behind only Darryl Strawberry (252) and David Wright (242). The only active players who lead a franchise all-time in homers are Mike Trout (Angels), Giancarlo Stanton (Marlins) and Manny Machado (Padres).

Will it happen?
Alonso is 27 home runs away from breaking the franchise home run record. His fewest home runs in a non-shortened season were his 34 last year, so it seems very likely he will set the record this year.

• Each team's all-time home run leader

Aaron Judge: 350 home runs
Judge enters the season with 315 career home runs, the most in MLB since his debut season of 2016. He reached 300 homers in 955 games, the fewest in MLB history, so it’s worth wondering where he may rank for fewest games to 350 career home runs. He’s played 993 games so far. The list:

Mark McGwire: 1,280 games
Juan Gonzalez: 1,298
Alex Rodriguez: 1,301
Harmon Killebrew: 1,319
Albert Pujols: 1,320

Will it happen?
Judge needs 35 home runs, which certainly seems doable for a player who hit 62 in ‘22, 52 in ‘17, 37 in just 106 games in 2023 and 58 in 2024. And he’ll get there in the fewest games as long as he does it by the summer of 2026, assuming he stays healthy.

Mike Trout: 400 home runs
Trout enters the year with 378 career home runs, on the verge of becoming the 59th player in MLB history with at least 400 home runs. If we whittle that down even further, just 14 of those players also had at least 200 career stolen bases. Trout already has 212. And if we take it one step further, the 33-year-old Trout would be just the fourth player with at least 400 home runs and 200 stolen bases before turning 34, joining Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa and Willie Mays.

Will it happen?
The last time Trout played more than even 85 games in a season in 2022, he hit 40 home runs. Last year, he hit 10 in 29 games. Trout is 22 away, so as long as he stays healthy, we should get to celebrate this one with him soon.

Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander: 3,500 strikeouts, 9th all-time and beyond
The two-time former teammates enter the year 10th and 11th all-time in career strikeouts" Verlander with 3,416 and Scherzer at 3,407, both within striking distance of ninth all-time. Here’s the relevant list, according to Elias:

Most strikeouts all-time:

1. Nolan Ryan: 5,714
2. Randy Johnson: 4,875
3. Roger Clemens: 4,672
4. Steve Carlton: 4,136
5. Bert Blyleven: 3,701
6. Tom Seaver: 3,640
7. Don Sutton: 3,574
8. Gaylord Perry: 3,534
9. Walter Johnson: 3,515

Will it happen?
This will just be as it’s been for a while now: the two certain Hall of Famers trading spots on the list. The ninth spot is definitely reachable, and eighth is in view as well. Verlander is 100 strikeouts from passing Johnson and Scherzer is 109 from passing the mark. Both of those can be doable in a full season. The last time Verlander was a qualified pitcher, in 2023, he had 144 strikeouts, and Scherzer’s last season with at least 150 innings, in 2023, he had 174.

Clayton Kershaw: 3,000 strikeouts, 18 seasons with Dodgers
Kershaw will return midseason with 2,968 career strikeouts. That means that 3,000 is very much on the radar, even in a partial season. The last pitcher to join the 3,000-strikeout club was Scherzer, who became its 19th member. The 3,000 mark is certainly elite territory: of the 19 pitchers to reach it, the only ones not in the Hall of Fame are Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling, plus the not-yet-eligible Scherzer and Verlander. Kershaw’s played 17 seasons so far, third-most in Dodgers’ franchise history behind only Bill Russell and Zack Wheat, with 18 each.

Will it happen?
Kershaw is 32 strikeouts away from the mark. The biggest question mark is simply when he will return to the mound. And as soon as he appears in his first game, he’ll tie for the most seasons played in Dodgers history, with 18.

A few more to keep an eye on…

Shohei Ohtani, 250 home runs: Ohtani entered the year with 225 home runs and is now up to 226 after Game 2 in Tokyo. He has 608 career strikeouts as a pitcher. He’s already one of two players in MLB history with at least 200 home runs and more than 15 strikeouts on the mound, along with Babe Ruth (714 home runs, 501 pitching strikeouts per Elias).

Ronald Acuña Jr., 200 home runs & 200 SB: MLB’s only 40-70 club member has 165 career homers and 196 stolen bases in 722 games. He’s 27. Nobody has reached 200-200 before turning 28 and the fewest games to the combined mark is 929, by Alfonso Soriano.

Juan Soto, most walks before turning 27: Soto’s 769 career walks are most in MLB history before turning 26 and second-most before turning 27, behind Mickey Mantle’s 797. He’s 29 walks from breaking the pre-27 record, and he’s yet to even play a regular-season game as a 26-year-old.

Kenley Jansen, third-most saves: Jansen enters the year fourth all-time with 447 saves, looking up at Lee Smith in third with 478. And don’t forget Craig Kimbrel, who has 440 saves in fifth and recently rejoined the Braves organization.