Gerrit Cole strikeouts: Which record did Yankees ace reach against Giants?

Gerrit Cole strikeouts are a common occurrence in New York Yankees games in which the veteran starts. They're so common, in fact, that he's now set multiple records (including the Yankees franchise record), including a brand new one during his Opening Day start against the San Francisco Giants.

Cole struck out a ton of batters in a flurry to open the game. He walked Lamonte Wade on four pitches before recording the next seven outs as strikeouts. His swinging strikeout of Blake Sabol to open the second inning gave him 600 in his Yankees career, making him the second MLB pitcher ever to do that with three different teams.

Cole began his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates and he amassed 600 strikeouts with them. He was traded to the Houston Astros and did the same there and has now reached that milestone once again.

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Gerrit Cole strikeouts: How many can the ace record this year?

If his opening start against the San Francisco Giants is any indication, Gerrit Cole is going to have a lot of strikeouts this year. Through three innings, he recorded eight strikeouts.

Gerrit Cole strikeouts happen a lot

Last year, he set the Yanks record with 257. That total isn't out of reach, but setting a record two years in a row is tough. Projections from Fangraphs expect the ace to have a K/9 of over 11, so expect over 220 strikeouts from Cole.

He's on fire during his first start, so if he can keep up the good form, there's no reason why he can't once again lead all of baseball in punchouts.