Beloved former Cubs pitcher makes MLB history, racking up his 2,000th strikeout

Now 38 years old and in his 12th MLB season, veteran Yu Darvish continues to add to an already impressive resume - and on Sunday, he did so in historic fashion. The right-hander became the first Japanese player in big-league history to amass 2,000 strikeouts, punching out nine White Sox as the Padres finished off a sweep at home.

Darvish missed a large chunk of the season but has shown that when he's on the mound, he's still a formidable force. Now in his fourth year in San Diego, he's made 98 starts with the Friars - a number topped only by the the total with the team he started his career with, the Texas Rangers.

The five-time All-Star had an interesting Cubs tenure, signing a six-year, $126 million deal with Chicago in Feb. 2018. He struggled mightily in that first season, making just eight starts and working to a 4.95 ERA before being shut down for the year. He improved in 2019, making 33 starts for David Ross' Cubs, and really hit his stride down the stretch, but it was in the shortened 2020 season he was at his best.

Without fans in the seats that year, Darvish was electric, finishing runner-up in NL Cy Young balloting, leading the league with eight wins and a 2.23 FIP. But despite turning in one of his best single-season performances in year, the Cubs traded him to San Diego that winter in a blatant cost-cutting move brought on by Tom Ricketts' 'biblical losses' sustained during the pandemic.

Despite that move, Darvish - to this day - speaks highly about his time in Chicago and has even played a role in the Cubs' recruiting of free agents. That says a lot about the person he is, let alone the competitor and force on the mound.

Between his MLB career and his time in the NPB in Japan, Darvish has a staggering 3,253 strikeouts to his name now. Under team control for four more seasons thanks to an extension he inked with the Padres, he's nowhere near done, despite his age. Where will he end up when it's all said and done? Only time will tell.