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Nolan Ryan is the all-time leader in career strikeouts.
This list is for pitchers. For career strikeouts by batters, see List of Major League Baseball career strikeouts by batters leaders
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.
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 .
Max Scherzer is the active leader in career strikeouts and 10th all-time.
A player is considered "inactive" if he has not played baseball for one year or has announced his retirement.
Stats updated as of August 25, 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 (57)
3,399
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
CC Sabathia
3,093
19
John Smoltz †
3,084
20
Zack Greinke (0)
2,979
21
Clayton Kershaw (24)
2,968
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
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
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 (191)
2,380
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 (62)
2,214
65
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
Charlie Morton (133)
2,013
87
Catfish Hunter †
2,012
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
^ "Nolan Ryan Career Stats" . Baseball Reference . Retrieved July 28, 2021 .
^ Boston, Talmadge. "Nolan Ryan Bio" . Society For American Baseball Research . Retrieved July 28, 2021 .
^ "Nolan Ryan Hall of Fame Profile" . National Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved August 1, 2021 .
^ "Roger Clemens Career Stats" . Baseball Reference . Retrieved July 28, 2021 .
^ "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 .
^ "Steve Carlton Career Stats" . Baseball Reference . Retrieved July 28, 2021 .
^ "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 .
^ MLB.com – Career Leaders for Strikeouts
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