List of Major League Baseball career strikeout leaders explained

This list is for pitchers. For career strikeouts by batters, see List of Major League Baseball career strikeouts by batters leadersThe 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.

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

†	Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Bold	Denotes active player (with 2024 season strikeouts shown).

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

• Stats updated as of August 19, 2024.^[8]

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 †	3,508
10	Max Scherzer (38)	3,405
11	Justin Verlander (51)	3,393
12	Greg Maddux †	3,371
13	Phil Niekro †	3,342
14	Ferguson Jenkins †	3,192
15	Pedro Martínez †	3,154
16	Bob Gibson †	3,117
17	Curt Schilling	3,116
18	style=	CC Sabathia	3,093
19	John Smoltz †	3,084
20	Zack Greinke (0)	2,979
21	Clayton Kershaw (19)	2,963
22	Jim Bunning †	2,855
23	Mickey Lolich	2,832
24	Mike Mussina †	2,813
25	Cy Young †	2,803
26	Frank Tanana	2,773
27	David Cone	2,668
28		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
34	Jerry Koosman	2,556
35	Javier Vázquez	2,536
36	Bartolo Colón	2,535
37	Félix Hernández	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

Rank	Player	K
51	Sandy Koufax †	2,396
52	Chris Sale (187)	2,376
53	Charlie Hough	2,362
54	Robin Roberts †	2,357
55	Early Wynn †	2,334
56	Rube Waddell †	2,316
57	Juan Marichal †	2,303
58	John Lackey	2,294
59	Dwight Gooden	2,293
60	Lefty Grove †	2,266
61	Eddie Plank †	2,246
62	Tommy John	2,245
63	James Shields	2,234
64	Gerrit Cole (60)	2,212
	Jim Palmer †	2,212
66	Jake Peavy	2,207
67	Adam Wainwright	2,202
68	David Wells	2,201
69	Grover Cleveland Alexander †	2,198
70	Vida Blue	2,175
71	Camilo Pascual	2,167
72	Tim Wakefield	2,156
73	Dennis Martínez	2,149
74	Roy Halladay †	2,117
75	Kevin Millwood	2,083
76	Bobo Newsom	2,082
77	Tim Hudson	2,080
78	David Price	2,076
79	Ryan Dempster	2,075
80	Fernando Valenzuela	2,074
81	Madison Bumgarner	2,070
82	Dazzy Vance †	2,045
83	Rick Reuschel	2,015
84	Orel Hershiser	2,014
85	Dan Haren	2,013
86	Catfish Hunter †	2,012
87	Charlie Morton (127)	2,007
88	Lance Lynn (97)	2,003
89	Andy Benes	2,000
90	Billy Pierce	1,999
91	Kevin Appier	1,994
92	Johan Santana	1,988
93	Red Ruffing †	1,987
94	Yu Darvish (53)	1,982
95	John Clarkson †	1,978
	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

• 3,000 strikeout club

Notes and References

1. Web site: Nolan Ryan Career Stats. Baseball Reference. July 28, 2021.
2. Web site: Nolan Ryan Bio. Boston. Talmadge. Society For American Baseball Research. July 28, 2021.
3. Web site: Nolan Ryan Hall of Fame Profile. National Baseball Hall of Fame. August 1, 2021.
4. Web site: Roger Clemens Career Stats. Baseball Reference. July 28, 2021.
5. Web site: 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. April 14, 2021.
6. Web site: Steve Carlton Career Stats. Baseball Reference. July 28, 2021.
7. Web site: 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. April 14, 2021.
8. https://www.mlb.com/stats/pitching/strikeouts/all-time-totals MLB.com – Career Leaders for Strikeouts