Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m fairly certain, “be Justin Verlander’s 2,500th career strikeout,” was on that list of milestones Shohei Ohtani set for himself when MLB teams were courting him in the offseason.

Yeah, pretty sure it was right between, “win a pie-eating contest by 25,” and, “binge-watch Friday Night Lights in a month.”

Though I could be wrong.

Anyways, big night for Verlander. I’d say this is probably No. 2 on his list to Winning the World Series. And I’d probably put marrying Kate Upton at 3, but that’s just me.

It’s great to see Verlander back to what he was from ’09-13. I wonder if the Tigers’ being such a massive disappointment year-in and year-out had an effect on his preparation or performance or something. I don’t think it was injury-related, because 2015 was the only year he missed extended time due to an injury.

And he’s clearly back to his old self. 84 K’s in 68.2 innings, 1.05 ERA, sitting 95.85 MPH with his fastball this month. Just based on his numbers alone you can make the case he’s pitching better than he ever has.

Verlander can’t slow down either. Assuming he wants to reach the 3,000 strikeout mark.