most pitcher strikeouts from 1973 to 2021

Between the 1973 and 2021 seasons, Nolan Ryan struck out the most batters, with 4,892 strikeouts.

	NAME	SO	G	W	L	W%	GS	ERA	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	R	HR	BB	HBP	GF	IBB	TBF	WP	K/9	BB/9	K/BB	HR/9	K%	BB%	WHIP	BABIP	RA	ERA-	FIP	FIP-	H/9	PRAA
1	Nolan Ryan N. Ryan	4,892	663	276	238	.537	660	3.21	189	50	1	4592.0	3,388	1,636	1,868	273	2,294	124	3	60	19,195	236	9.59	4.50	2.13	0.54	25.5	12.0	1.24	.268	3.66	89	2.92	81	6.64	369.5
2	Randy Johnson R. Johnson	4,875	618	303	166	.646	603	3.29	100	37	2	4135.1	3,346	1,513	1,703	411	1,497	190	7	37	17,067	109	10.61	3.26	3.26	0.89	28.6	8.8	1.17	.291	3.71	75	3.18	73	7.28	554.3
3	Roger Clemens R. Clemens	4,672	709	354	184	.658	707	3.12	118	46	0	4916.2	4,185	1,707	1,885	363	1,580	159	0	63	20,240	143	8.55	2.89	2.96	0.66	23.1	7.8	1.17	.284	3.45	70	3.08	71	7.66	680.4
4	Greg Maddux G. Maddux	3,371	744	355	227	.610	740	3.16	109	35	0	5008.1	4,726	1,756	1,981	353	999	137	3	177	20,421	70	6.06	1.80	3.37	0.63	16.5	4.9	1.14	.281	3.56	76	3.25	78	8.49	519.5
5	Pedro Martinez P. Martinez	3,154	476	219	100	.687	409	2.93	46	17	3	2827.1	2,221	919	1,006	239	760	141	23	30	11,394	62	10.04	2.42	4.15	0.76	27.7	6.7	1.05	.279	3.20	66	2.91	68	7.07	454.6
6	Curt Schilling C. Schilling	3,116	569	216	146	.597	436	3.46	83	20	22	3261.0	2,998	1,253	1,318	347	711	52	81	43	13,284	72	8.60	1.96	4.38	0.96	23.5	5.4	1.14	.293	3.64	80	3.22	76	8.27	373.6
7	Bert Blyleven B. Blyleven	3,114	588	244	209	.539	584	3.39	209	51	0	4240.1	3,975	1,598	1,775	370	1,147	138	1	57	17,532	100	6.61	2.43	2.71	0.79	17.8	6.5	1.21	.282	3.77	86	3.26	83	8.44	299.8
8	CC Sabathia	3,093	561	251	161	.609	560	3.74	38	12	0	3577.1	3,404	1,485	1,623	382	1,099	123	0	44	14,989	74	7.78	2.76	2.81	0.96	20.6	7.3	1.26	.294	4.08	87	3.77	87	8.56	223.7
9	John Smoltz J. Smoltz	3,084	723	213	155	.579	481	3.33	53	16	154	3473.0	3,074	1,284	1,391	288	1,010	57	204	84	14,271	145	7.99	2.62	3.05	0.75	21.6	7.1	1.18	.283	3.60	81	3.23	78	7.97	356.6
10	Max Scherzer M. Scherzer	3,020	407	190	97	.662	398	3.16	12	5	0	2536.2	2,072	890	959	287	677	96	2	20	10,266	73	10.71	2.40	4.46	1.02	29.4	6.6	1.08	.289	3.40	76	3.12	75	7.35	288.2
11	Justin Verlander J. Verlander	3,013	454	226	129	.637	454	3.33	26	9	0	2988.0	2,538	1,105	1,192	310	851	98	0	27	12,214	87	9.08	2.56	3.54	0.93	24.7	7.0	1.13	.281	3.59	78	3.40	80	7.64	280.4
12	Steve Carlton S. Carlton	2,875	510	225	172	.567	496	3.37	158	31	1	3606.0	3,246	1,352	1,550	308	1,297	35	6	102	15,024	123	7.18	3.24	2.22	0.77	19.1	8.6	1.26	.280	3.87	89	3.30	88	8.10	168.7
13	Mike Mussina M. Mussina	2,813	537	270	153	.638	536	3.68	57	23	0	3562.2	3,460	1,458	1,559	376	785	60	0	29	14,593	71	7.11	1.98	3.58	0.95	19.3	5.4	1.19	.292	3.94	82	3.57	79	8.74	372.8
14	Zack Greinke Z. Greinke	2,809	530	219	132	.624	488	3.41	17	5	1	3110.0	2,892	1,179	1,263	328	712	72	8	25	12,699	92	8.13	2.06	3.95	0.95	22.1	5.6	1.16	.292	3.65	81	3.43	83	8.37	244.3
15	Frank Tanana F. Tanana	2,773	638	240	236	.504	616	3.66	143	34	1	4188.1	4,063	1,704	1,910	448	1,255	129	10	116	17,641	119	5.96	2.70	2.21	0.96	15.7	7.1	1.27	.277	4.10	94	3.78	96	8.73	66.4
16	Clayton Kershaw C. Kershaw	2,670	379	185	84	.688	376	2.49	25	15	0	2454.2	1,859	679	741	196	606	37	1	27	9,667	95	9.79	2.22	4.41	0.72	27.6	6.3	1.00	.270	2.72	64	2.76	69	6.82	338
17	David Cone D. Cone	2,668	450	194	126	.606	419	3.46	56	22	1	2898.2	2,504	1,115	1,222	258	1,137	106	9	42	12,184	149	8.28	3.53	2.35	0.80	21.9	9.3	1.26	.280	3.79	84	3.56	85	7.77	190.9
18	Chuck Finley C. Finley	2,610	524	200	173	.536	467	3.85	63	15	0	3197.1	3,069	1,366	1,517	304	1,332	76	24	36	13,638	130	7.35	3.75	1.96	0.86	19.1	9.8	1.38	.297	4.27	87	3.90	88	8.64	189.7
19	Tom Glavine T. Glavine	2,607	682	305	203	.600	682	3.54	56	25	0	4413.1	4,298	1,734	1,900	356	1,500	66	0	145	18,604	65	5.32	3.06	1.74	0.73	14.0	8.1	1.31	.280	3.87	86	3.94	94	8.76	120.1
20	Cole Hamels C. Hamels	2,560	423	163	122	.572	422	3.43	17	7	0	2698.0	2,424	1,027	1,103	310	767	100	0	43	11,115	57	8.54	2.56	3.34	1.03	23.0	6.9	1.18	.287	3.68	82	3.68	88	8.09	151.3
21	Javier Vazquez J. Vazquez	2,536	450	165	160	.508	443	4.22	28	8	0	2840.0	2,784	1,331	1,431	373	763	88	5	58	11,935	76	8.04	2.42	3.32	1.18	21.2	6.4	1.25	.295	4.53	96	3.90	88	8.82	164.4
22	Bartolo Colon B. Colon	2,535	565	247	188	.568	552	4.12	38	13	0	3461.2	3,593	1,584	1,719	439	948	64	2	47	14,655	45	6.59	2.46	2.67	1.14	17.3	6.5	1.31	.296	4.47	95	4.14	96	9.34	71.6
23	Felix Hernandez F. Hernandez	2,524	419	169	136	.554	418	3.42	25	11	0	2729.2	2,487	1,037	1,157	264	805	105	0	16	11,284	156	8.32	2.65	3.14	0.87	22.4	7.1	1.21	.293	3.81	84	3.52	85	8.20	181.5
24	A.J. Burnett	2,513	435	164	157	.511	430	3.99	24	10	0	2731.1	2,519	1,210	1,328	263	1,100	143	1	35	11,665	161	8.28	3.62	2.28	0.87	21.5	9.4	1.32	.295	4.38	97	3.86	92	8.30	97.3
25	Jon Lester J. Lester	2,488	452	200	117	.631	451	3.66	15	4	0	2740.0	2,610	1,114	1,215	294	892	90	0	13	11,487	63	8.17	2.93	2.79	0.97	21.7	7.8	1.28	.300	3.99	86	3.77	92	8.57	101.7