MLB Players With Major Milestones To Play for in 2025

Mike Trout, Clayton Kershaw, and Giancarlo Stanton are among those who will try to reach meaningful milestones this season.

Mike Trout (27) of the Los Angeles Angels in the dugout before playing the San Francisco Giantson June 22, 2021 at Angel Stadium.
ANAHEIM, CA - JUNE 22: Mike Trout (27) of the Los Angeles Angels in the dugout before playing the San Francisco Giantson June 22, 2021 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, CA. (Photo by John McCoy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Perhaps more than any other professional sport, baseball places great emphasis on individual accolades and career milestones. There are several MLB stars within reasonable reach of particular statistical benchmarks in 2025, whether on the hitting or pitching side.

Here are three sluggers and three hurlers to keep tabs on this year as each chases down a firm spot in the history books.

Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels — 400 Home Runs

Mike Trout likely could have reached the 400-HR mark last season. However, as has unfortunately been the case for the three-time MVP, injuries significantly limited his playing time. Still, there’s reason for optimism after he managed to get into just 29 games in 2024.

Angels’ manager Ron Washington recently told MLB Network that Trout is “ready to go.” On top of that, in his mere 109 at-bats last year, Trout was on a torrid home-run pace with 10 deep drives. At age 33, he has already expressed willingness to move to a corner-outfield spot or even DH to help him stay healthy.

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Trout is only 22 homers away from 400. That seems quite attainable during the upcoming summer.

Giancarlo Stanton, New York Yankees — 450 Home Runs

Among active players, only Giancarlo Stanton has more career home runs than Trout. Stanton’s 27 long balls in 2024 brought his total to 429 and well within reach of 450 this year.

Stanton isn’t the overall offensive force that he once was, and he has had trouble playing out a full season recently, finishing between 415 and 459 plate appearances the past three years. Despite that, the five-time All-Star has averaged 27 homers per season in that span.

The bigger question with Stanton is if he can reach the prestigious 500-HR club. He turned 35 years of age back in November and has three years remaining, with an option for a fourth, on his current contract with the Yankees.

There are decent odds that Stanton will join that exclusive group, and the Hall of Fame debate that ensues will be fascinating.

Manny Machado, San Diego Padres — 2,000 Hits

There are four active players with more than 2,000 hits at the moment. Manny Machado will look to join the likes of Freddie Freeman, Jose Altuve, Andrew McCutchen, and Paul Goldschmidt this year.

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Machado currently stands exactly 100 hits away from 2,000. Aside from the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, he has collected more than 100 every season dating back to 2015. As long as he maintains his durability, Machado should be a lock for this threshold in 2025.

Justin Verlander, San Francisco Giants — 3,500 Strikeouts

Justin Verlander is already 10th all-time in strikeouts among MLB pitchers. He needs just 84 more to become the 10th in history to reach 3,500 Ks.

Verlander will turn 42 in February, and even though he is coming off of an injury-riddled season that saw him post a lofty 5.48 ERA across 17 starts, the Giants felt comfortable handing him $15 million to pitch in San Francisco this year. Oracle Park is one of the best places to pitch in all of baseball, so Verlander has that going for him. It’s also foolish to doubt the future Hall of Famer.

Max Scherzer (Free Agent) — 3,500 Strikeouts

As of writing, Max Scherzer still needs a team to pitch for in 2025. After helping the Rangers to a championship in 2023, the three-time Cy Young winner managed to log only 43.1 innings due to multiple injury issues last year. He collected 40 strikeouts over those innings, bringing his career total to 3,407 – nine shy of Verlander.

Scherzer, now 40, is a little younger than Verlander, but their careers have seemed to parallel and intersect on multiple occasions. Given his still solid strikeout rates in recent seasons, Scherzer appears destined for the 3,500-K club as well.

Clayton Kershaw (Free Agent) — 3,000 Strikeouts

Clayton Kershaw sits only 32 strikeouts away from becoming the 20th pitcher to reach 3,000 Ks. Be that as it may, he, like Scherzer, does not currently have a team. It seems unimaginable that Kershaw would ever don any color other than Dodger blue, but that might be required if he wishes to continue his career.

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Kershaw has been nagged by injuries throughout the 2020s, but last season saw him only able to make seven starts, posting a mediocre 4.50 ERA with only 24 punchouts over 30 innings. The 10-time All-Star has also undergone multiple surgeries (toe, knee) this offseason.

It is likely that a team, almost certainly the Dodgers, will get Kershaw under contract. That team will also almost certainly give the future first-ballot Hall of Famer every opportunity to reach 3,000 strikeouts.