3,000 strikeout club

In Major League Baseball (MLB), the 3,000 strikeout club is the group of 20 pitchers who have struck out 3,000 or more batters in their careers. Walter Johnson became the first member in 1923, and was the only one until Bob Gibson joined in 1974. The most recent player to join is Clayton Kershaw, who accomplished the feat on July 2, 2025.

Randy Johnson reached the mark with the fewest games pitched and innings pitched.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The Minnesota Twins were the first of five franchises to see multiple pitchers record their 3,000th strikeout: Walter Johnson (while the franchise was called the Washington Senators) in 1923 and Bert Blyleven in 1986. The other teams with multiple members are the Chicago Cubs (Ferguson Jenkins and Greg Maddux), the New York Yankees (Phil Niekro and CC Sabathia), the Houston Astros (Nolan Ryan and Justin Verlander), and the Los Angeles Dodgers (Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw). Three players got 3,000 strikeouts with one team: Walter Johnson, Bob Gibson, and Kershaw. César Gerónimo is the only player struck out by two pitchers for their 3,000th strikeout: Gibson in 1974 and Ryan in 1980.<ref name="victims">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Ten 3,000-strikeout pitchers are also members of the 300-win club.<ref name="300win">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Seven members were named to the All-Century Team, a list of MLB's best 100 players; fans later elected four of them as starters.<ref name="centuryteam">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="espncentury">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> All members of the club also won a Cy Young Award in their careers except for Ryan, Blyleven, Don Sutton, Walter Johnson (whose career predated the award's creation), Niekro, and Curt Schilling. Four pitchers in the group are left-handers: Steve Carlton, Randy Johnson, Clayton Kershaw, and CC Sabathia.<ref name="carltonbref">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="rjbref">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The club is considered to almost be a guarantee of entry into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Fifteen members of the 3,000-strikeout club have been elected to the Hall, most recently Sabathia during the 2025 balloting. Three more members (Kershaw, Scherzer, Verlander) remain active as of 2025, but are widely considered to be future inductees once eligible.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The remaining two, Roger Clemens and Schilling, made their first appearances on the ballot for the Template:Bhofy elections and received over 50% of the total votes before falling off the ballot in 2022.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> Clemens' future election is seen as uncertain because of his alleged links to use of performance-enhancing drugs.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Key

Clayton Kershaw, joining on July 2, 2025, is the most recent addition to the club.

Player	Name of the player
Strikeouts	Career strikeouts
IP	Career innings pitched
Date	Date of the pitcher's 3,000th strikeout
Batter	The batter struck out for the pitcher's 3,000th strikeout
Team	The pitcher's team for his 3,000th strikeout
Seasons	The seasons this player played in the major leagues
Template:Dagger	Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
Template:Double-dagger	Player is active

Club members

Player	Strikeouts	Template:Abbreviation	Template:Abbreviation	Date	Batter	Team	Seasons
Template:SortnameTemplate:Dagger	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	5,386	1.06	Template:Dts<ref name="victims"/>	Template:Sortname<ref name="victims"/>	Houston Astros	1966, 1968–1993
Template:SortnameTemplate:Dagger	4,875<ref name="rjbref"/>	4,135Template:Frac	1.18	Template:Dts<ref name="victims"/>	Template:Sortname<ref name="victims"/>	Arizona Diamondbacks	1988–2009
Template:Sortname	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	4,916Template:Frac	0.95	Template:Dts<ref name="victims"/>	Template:Sortname<ref name="victims"/>	Toronto Blue Jays	1984–2007
Template:SortnameTemplate:Dagger	4,136<ref name="carltonbref"/>	5,217Template:Frac	0.79	Template:Dts<ref name="victims"/>	Template:Sortname<ref name="victims"/>	Philadelphia Phillies	1965–1988
Template:SortnameTemplate:Dagger	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	4,970	0.74	Template:Dts<ref name="victims"/>	Template:Sortname<ref name="victims"/>	Minnesota Twins	1970–1992
Template:SortnameTemplate:Dagger	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	4,782Template:Frac	0.76	Template:Dts<ref name="victims"/>	Template:Sortname<ref name="victims"/>	Cincinnati Reds	1967–1986
Template:SortnameTemplate:Dagger	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	5,282Template:Frac	0.68	Template:Dts<ref name="victims"/>	Template:Sortname<ref name="victims"/>	Milwaukee Brewers	1966–1988
Template:SortnameTemplate:Double-dagger	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	3,567Template:Frac	1.00	Template:Dts<ref name="victims" />	Template:Sortname<ref name="victims" />	Houston Astros	2005–2020, 2022–present
Template:SortnameTemplate:Dagger	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	5,350Template:Frac	0.66	Template:Dts<ref name="victims"/>	Template:Sortname<ref name="victims"/>	San Diego Padres	1962–1983
Template:SortnameTemplate:Dagger	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	5,914Template:Frac	0.59	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Washington Senators	1907–1927
Template:SortnameTemplate:Double-dagger	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	2,963	1.18	Template:Dts<ref name="scherzer">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Eric Hosmer<ref name="scherzer" />	Los Angeles Dodgers	2008–present
Template:SortnameTemplate:Dagger	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	5,008Template:Frac	0.67	Template:Dts<ref name="maddux">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Sortname<ref name="maddux"/>	Chicago Cubs	1986–2008
Template:SortnameTemplate:Dagger	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	5,404Template:Frac	0.62	Template:Dts<ref name="victims"/>	Template:Sortname<ref name="victims"/>	New York Yankees	1964–1987
Template:SortnameTemplate:Dagger	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	4,500Template:Frac	0.71	Template:Dts<ref name="victims"/>	Template:Sortname<ref name="victims"/>	Chicago Cubs	1965–1983
Template:SortnameTemplate:Dagger	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	2,827Template:Frac	1.12	Template:Dts<ref name="pedro">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Sortname<ref name="pedro"/>	New York Mets	1992–2009
Template:SortnameTemplate:Dagger	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	3,884Template:Frac	0.80	Template:Dts<ref name="victims"/>	Template:Sortname<ref name="victims"/>	St. Louis Cardinals	1959–1975
Template:Sortname	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	3,261	0.96	Template:Dts<ref name="schilling">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Sortname<ref name="schilling"/>	Boston Red Sox	1988–2007
Template:SortnameTemplate:Dagger	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	3,577Template:Frac	0.86	Template:Dts<ref name="Sabathia">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Sortname<ref name="Sabathia"/>	New York Yankees	2001–2019
Template:SortnameTemplate:Dagger	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	3,473	0.88	Template:Dts<ref name="smoltz">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Sortname<ref name="smoltz"/>	Atlanta Braves	1988–1999, 2001–2009
Template:Sortname	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	2,855Template:Frac	1.07	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Sortname<ref name=":0" />	Los Angeles Dodgers	2008–2025

See also

• List of Major League Baseball career strikeout leaders
• 300 win club

References

General

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Specific