# 3,000 strikeout club

In Major League Baseball (MLB), the 3,000 strikeout club is the group of 19 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 addition is Max Scherzer, who joined on September 12, 2021. The group includes three left-handed pitchers: CC Sabathia, Steve Carlton, and Randy Johnson. Randy Johnson reached the mark with the fewest games pitched and innings pitched. The Minnesota Twins were the first of four 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 Sabathia), and the Houston Astros (Nolan Ryan and Justin Verlander). César Gerónimo is the only player struck out by two pitchers for their 3,000th strikeout: Gibson in 1974 and Ryan in 1980. Ten 3,000-strikeout pitchers are also members of the 300-win club. 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. All members of the club except for Ryan, Blyleven, Don Sutton, Walter Johnson, Niekro, and Curt Schilling also won a Cy Young Award in their careers.
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. Two more members - Scherzer and Verlander - are not yet eligible for election, as both players are currently active. The remaining two, Roger Clemens and Schilling, made their first appearances on the ballot for the 2013 elections and received over 50% of the total votes before falling off the ballot in 2022. Clemens' future election is seen as uncertain because of his alleged links to use of performance-enhancing drugs.

## Key

| 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 |
| † | Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame |
| ‡ | Player is active |

## Club members

| Player | Strikeouts | IP | K/IP | Date | Batter | Team | Seasons |
| Nolan Ryan$^†$ | 5,714 | 5,386 | 1.06 | July 4, 1980 | César Gerónimo | Houston Astros | 1966, 1968–1993 |
| Randy Johnson$^†$ | 4,875 | 4,1351⁄3 | 1.18 | September 10, 2000 | Mike Lowell | Arizona Diamondbacks | 1988–2009 |
| Roger Clemens | 4,672 | 4,9162⁄3 | 0.95 | July 5, 1998 | Randy Winn | Toronto Blue Jays | 1984–2007 |
| Steve Carlton$^†$ | 4,136 | 5,2171⁄3 | 0.79 | April 29, 1981 | Tim Wallach | Philadelphia Phillies | 1965–1988 |
| Bert Blyleven$^†$ | 3,701 | 4,970 | 0.74 | August 1, 1986 | Mike Davis | Minnesota Twins | 1970–1992 |
| Tom Seaver$^†$ | 3,640 | 4,7822⁄3 | 0.76 | April 18, 1981 | Keith Hernandez | Cincinnati Reds | 1967–1986 |
| Don Sutton$^†$ | 3,574 | 5,2821⁄3 | 0.68 | June 24, 1983 | Alan Bannister | Milwaukee Brewers | 1966–1988 |
| Gaylord Perry$^†$ | 3,534 | 5,3501⁄3 | 0.66 | October 1, 1978 | Joe Simpson | San Diego Padres | 1962–1983 |
| Walter Johnson$^†$ | 3,508 | 5,9142⁄3 | 0.59 | July 22, 1923 | Stan Coveleski | Washington Senators | 1907–1927 |
| Justin Verlander$^‡$ | 3,416 | 3,4152⁄3 | 1.00 | September 28, 2019 | Kole Calhoun | Houston Astros | 2005–present |
| Max Scherzer$^‡$ | 3,407 | 2,878 | 1.18 | September 12, 2021 | Eric Hosmer | Los Angeles Dodgers | 2008–present |
| Greg Maddux$^†$ | 3,371 | 5,0081⁄3 | 0.67 | July 26, 2005 | Omar Vizquel | Chicago Cubs | 1986–2008 |
| Phil Niekro$^†$ | 3,342 | 5,4041⁄3 | 0.62 | July 4, 1984 | Larry Parrish | New York Yankees | 1964–1987 |
| Ferguson Jenkins$^†$ | 3,192 | 4,5002⁄3 | 0.71 | May 25, 1982 | Garry Templeton | Chicago Cubs | 1965–1983 |
| Pedro Martínez$^†$ | 3,154 | 2,8271⁄3 | 1.12 | September 3, 2007 | Aaron Harang | New York Mets | 1992–2009 |
| Bob Gibson$^†$ | 3,117 | 3,8841⁄3 | 0.80 | July 17, 1974 | César Gerónimo | St. Louis Cardinals | 1959–1975 |
| Curt Schilling | 3,116 | 3,261 | 0.96 | August 30, 2006 | Nick Swisher | Boston Red Sox | 1988–2007 |
| CC Sabathia$^†$ | 3,093 | 3,5771⁄3 | 0.86 | April 30, 2019 | John Ryan Murphy | New York Yankees | 2001–2019 |
| John Smoltz$^†$ | 3,084 | 3,473 | 0.88 | April 22, 2008 | Felipe López | Atlanta Braves | 1988–1999, 2001–2009 |