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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.

The pitcher with the most career strikeouts in Major League Baseball, and the only pitcher to strike out over 5,000 batters, is Nolan Ryan with 5,714 career strikeouts.

The List[]

All statistics are current as of May 22, 2022.
bold-faced pitchers are still active.

Rank Player K
1 Nolan Ryan 5,714
2 Randy Johnson 4,875
3 Roger Clemens 4,672
4 Steve Carlton 4,136
5 Bert Blyleven 3,701
6 Tom Seaver 3,640
7 Don Sutton 3,574
8 Gaylord Perry 3,534
9 Walter Johnson 3,509
10 Greg Maddux 3,371
11 Phil Niekro 3,342
12 Fergie Jenkins 3,192
13 Pedro Martínez 3,154
14 Bob Gibson 3,117
15 Curt Schilling 3,116
16 CC Sabathia 3,093
17 John Smoltz 3,084
18 Max Scherzer 3,079
19 Justin Verlander 3,062
20 Jim Bunning 2,855
21 Mickey Lolich 2,832
22 Zack Greinke 2,827
23 Mike Mussina 2,813
24 Cy Young 2,803
25 Frank Tanana 2,773
26 Clayton Kershaw 2,702
27 David Cone 2,668
28 Chuck Finley 2,610
29 Tom Glavine 2,607
30 Warren Spahn 2,583
31 Bob Feller 2,581
32 Tim Keefe 2,564
33 Cole Hamels 2,560
Rank Player K
34 Jerry Koosman 2,556
35 Javier Vazquez 2,536
36 Bartolo Colon 2,535
37 Felix Hernandez 2,524
38 A.J. Burnett 2,513
39 Christy Mathewson 2,502
40 Jon Lester 2,488
41 Don Drysdale 2,486
42 Jack Morris 2,478
43 Mark Langston 2,464
44 Jim Kaat 2,461
45 Sam McDowell 2,453
46 Andy Pettitte 2,448
47 Jamie Moyer 2,441
48 Luis Tiant 2,416
49 Dennis Eckersley 2,401
50 Kevin Brown 2,397
51 Sandy Koufax 2,396
52 Charlie Hough 2,362
53 Robin Roberts 2,357
54 Early Wynn 2,334
55 Rube Waddell 2,316
56 Juan Marichal 2,303
57 John Lackey 2,294
58 Dwight Gooden 2,293
59 Lefty Grove 2,266
60 Eddie Plank 2,246
61 Tommy John 2,245
62 James Shields 2,234
63 Jim Palmer 2,212
64 Jake Peavy 2,207
65 David Wells 2,201
66 Pete Alexander 2,198
Rank Player K
67 Vida Blue 2,175
68 Camilo Pascual 2,167
69 Tim Wakefield 2,156
70 Dennis Martinez 2,149
71 Roy Halladay 2,117
72 Kevin Millwood 2,083
73 Bobo Newsom 2,082
74 Tim Hudson 2,080
75 Ryan Dempster 2,075
76 Fernando Valenzuela 2,074
77 Chris Sale 2,059
78 David Price 2,047
79 Dazzy Vance 2,045
80 Adam Wainwright 2,040
81 Rick Reuschel 2,015
32 Orel Hershiser 2,014
83 Dan Haren 2,013
84 Catfish Hunter 2,012
85 Andy Benes 2,000
86 Billy Pierce 1,999
87 Kevin Appier 1,994
88 Johan Santana 1,988
89 Red Ruffing 1,987
90 John Clarkson 1,978
90 Ervin Santana 1,978
92 Madison Bumgarner 1,976
92 Liván Hernández 1,976
94 Al Leiter 1,974
95 Bob Welch 1,969
96 Kenny Rogers 1,968
97 Whitey Ford 1,956
98 Bobby Witt 1,955
99 Amos Rusie 1,950
100 Danny Darwin 1,942


See also related lists[]

References[]

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