List of Major League Baseball career strikeout leaders

Last updated

This list is for pitchers. For career strikeouts by batters, see List of Major League Baseball career strikeouts by batters leaders.
Nolan Ryan is the all-time leader in career strikeouts. Nolan Ryan Tiger Stadium 1990 CROP.jpg
Nolan Ryan is the all-time leader in career strikeouts.

The following list is of the top 100 pitchers in career strikeouts in Major League Baseball. In baseball, a strikeout occurs when the batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. Strikeouts are associated with dominance on the part of the pitcher and failure on the part of the batter.

Contents

Nolan Ryan [1] [2] [3] has the most career strikeouts in Major League Baseball. During a record 27-year career, he struck out 5,714 batters. The American League record is held by Roger Clemens [4] (4,167 strikeouts), [5] while in the National League, the record is 4,000 by Steve Carlton. [6] [7]

The parentheses adjacent to an active player denote the number of strikeouts in the current season. The last change in the cutoff for the top 100 occurred on June 22, 2024, when Charlie Morton struck out his 1,957th batter, displacing Whitey Ford.

List

Justin Verlander is the active leader in career strikeouts and 9th all-time. Justin Verlander (51005083107) (cropped).jpg
Justin Verlander is the active leader in career strikeouts and 9th all-time.
Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame.
BoldDenotes active player (with 2025 season strikeouts shown).

A player is considered "inactive" if he has not played baseball for one year or has announced his retirement.

RankPlayerK
1 Nolan Ryan5,714
2 Randy Johnson4,875
3 Roger Clemens 4,672
4 Steve Carlton4,136
5 Bert Blyleven3,701
6 Tom Seaver3,640
7 Don Sutton3,574
8 Gaylord Perry3,534
9 Justin Verlander (114)3,530
10 Walter Johnson3,509
11 Max Scherzer (62)3,469
12 Greg Maddux3,371
13 Phil Niekro3,342
14 Ferguson Jenkins3,192
15 Pedro Martínez3,154
16 Bob Gibson3,117
17 Curt Schilling 3,116
18 CC Sabathia3,093
19 John Smoltz3,084
20 Clayton Kershaw (58)3,026
21 Zack Greinke 2,979
22 Jim Bunning2,855
23 Mickey Lolich 2,832
24 Mike Mussina2,813
25 Cy Young2,803
26 Frank Tanana 2,773
27 David Cone 2,668
28 Chuck Finley 2,610
29 Tom Glavine2,607
30 Warren Spahn2,583
31 Bob Feller2,581
32 Tim Keefe2,564
33 Cole Hamels 2,560
34 Jerry Koosman 2,556
35 Chris Sale (123)2,537
36 Javier Vázquez 2,536
37 Bartolo Colón 2,535
38 Félix Hernández 2,524
39 A. J. Burnett 2,513
40 Christy Mathewson2,502
41 Jon Lester 2,488
42 Don Drysdale2,486
43 Jack Morris2,478
44 Mark Langston 2,464
45 Jim Kaat2,461
46 Sam McDowell 2,453
47 Andy Pettitte 2,448
48 Jamie Moyer 2,441
49 Luis Tiant 2,416
50 Dennis Eckersley2,401
RankPlayerK
51 Kevin Brown 2,397
52 Sandy Koufax2,396
53 Charlie Hough 2,362
54 Robin Roberts2,357
55 Early Wynn2,334
56 Rube Waddell2,316
57 Juan Marichal2,303
58 John Lackey 2,294
59 Dwight Gooden 2,293
60 Lefty Grove2,266
61 Gerrit Cole (0)2,251
62 Eddie Plank2,246
63 Tommy John 2,245
64 James Shields 2,234
65 Jim Palmer2,212
66 Jake Peavy 2,207
67 Adam Wainwright 2,202
68 David Wells 2,201
69 Grover Cleveland Alexander2,198
70 Charlie Morton (140)2,187
71 Vida Blue 2,175
72 Camilo Pascual 2,167
73 Tim Wakefield 2,156
74 Dennis Martínez 2,149
75 Roy Halladay2,117
76 Kevin Millwood 2,083
77 Bobo Newsom 2,082
78 Tim Hudson 2,080
79 David Price 2,076
80 Ryan Dempster 2,075
81 Fernando Valenzuela 2,074
82 Madison Bumgarner 2,070
83 Yu Darvish (42)2,049
84 Dazzy Vance2,045
85 Lance Lynn 2,015
Rick Reuschel 2,015
87 Orel Hershiser 2,014
88 Dan Haren 2,013
89 Catfish Hunter2,012
90 Andy Benes 2,000
91 Billy Pierce 1,999
92 Kevin Appier 1,994
93 Johan Santana 1,988
94 Red Ruffing1,987
95 John Clarkson1,978
Ervin Santana 1,978
97 Liván Hernández 1,976
98 Al Leiter 1,974
99 Bob Welch 1,969
100 Kenny Rogers 1,968


See also

References

  1. "Nolan Ryan Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  2. Boston, Talmadge. "Nolan Ryan Bio". Society For American Baseball Research. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  3. "Nolan Ryan Hall of Fame Profile". National Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  4. "Roger Clemens Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  5. "Player Pitching Season & Career Finder: Spanning Multiple Seasons or entire Careers, In the Regular Season, since 1871, Playing in the AL, requiring Strikeouts >= 3000, sorted by greatest Strikeouts". Stathead. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  6. "Steve Carlton Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  7. "Player Pitching Season & Career Finder:Spanning Multiple Seasons or entire Careers, In the Regular Season, since 1871, Playing in the NL, requiring Strikeouts >= 3000, sorted by greatest Strikeouts". Stathead. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  8. MLB.com – Career Leaders for Strikeouts