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 |
[]
- Baseball statistics
- 3000 strikeout club
- Top 15, and List of active MLB players in the Top 50 in Strikeouts
- List of Major League Baseball leaders in games started
- List of Major League Baseball leaders in games finished
- List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
- 300 win club
- List of 300-save club and Blown saves
- List of Major League Baseball all-time saves leaders
- MLB players with 2,000 hits
- List of Major League Baseball players with 4,000 Total bases
- MLB players with 400 doubles
- MLB players with 100 triples
- Top 500 MLB home run hitters
- MLB players with 1,000 runs
- MLB players with 1,000 RBI
- MLB players with 300 stolen bases