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. 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. 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 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: Johnson, Steve Carlton, Clayton Kershaw, and CC Sabathia. Scherzer is the only active member of the club, while also being the active leader in the stat.

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) do not yet meet the 5-year eligibility requirement, but are widely considered to be future inductees once eligible. The remaining two, Roger Clemens and Schilling, made their first appearances on the ballot for the 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

PlayerName of the playerStrikeoutsCareer strikeoutsIPCareer innings pitchedDateDate of the pitcher's 3,000th strikeoutBatterThe batter struck out for the pitcher's 3,000th strikeoutTeamThe pitcher's team for his 3,000th strikeoutSeasonsThe seasons this player played in the major leaguesElected to the Baseball Hall of FamePlayer is active

Club members PlayerStrikeoutsDateBatterTeamSeasons5,7145,3861.06Houston Astros1966, 1968–19934,8754,1351.18Arizona Diamondbacks1988–20094,6724,9160.95Toronto Blue Jays1984–20074,1365,2170.79Philadelphia Phillies1965–19883,7014,9700.74Minnesota Twins1970–19923,6404,7820.76Cincinnati Reds1967–19863,5745,2820.68Milwaukee Brewers1966–19883,5603,5761.00Houston Astros2005–2020, 2022–20263,5573,0471.17Eric HosmerLos Angeles Dodgers2008–present3,5345,3500.66San Diego Padres1962–19833,5095,9140.59Washington Senators1907–19273,3715,0080.67Chicago Cubs1986–20083,3425,4040.62New York Yankees1964–19873,1924,5000.71Chicago Cubs1965–19833,1542,8271.12New York Mets1992–20093,1173,8840.80St. Louis Cardinals1959–19753,1163,2610.96Boston Red Sox1988–20073,0933,5770.86New York Yankees2001–20193,0843,4730.88Atlanta Braves1988–1999, 2001–20093,0522,8551.07July 2, 2025Los Angeles Dodgers2008–2025

3,000 strikeout club

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