most strikeouts by player through first four career starts

Nolan Ryan has struck out the most career hitters when starting 4+ games, with 5,714 strikeouts.

Interpreted as:

most strikeouts by player through first four or more career starts

	NAME	SO	GS	G	W	L	W%	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	5,714	773	807	324	292	.526	3.19	222	61	3	5386.0	3,923	1,911	2,178	321	2,795	158	13	78	22,575	277	9.55	4.67	2.04	0.54	25.3	12.4	1.25	.265	3.64	90	2.96	83	6.56	370.2
2	Randy Johnson R. Johnson	4,875	603	618	303	166	.646	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	707	709	354	184	.658	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	Steve Carlton S. Carlton	4,136	709	741	329	244	.574	3.22	254	55	2	5217.2	4,672	1,864	2,130	414	1,833	53	13	150	21,683	183	7.13	3.16	2.26	0.71	19.1	8.5	1.25	.279	3.67	87	3.14	86	8.06	271.5
5	Bert Blyleven B. Blyleven	3,701	685	692	287	250	.534	3.31	242	60	0	4970.0	4,632	1,830	2,029	430	1,322	155	3	71	20,491	114	6.70	2.39	2.80	0.78	18.1	6.5	1.20	.282	3.67	85	3.18	82	8.39	368.6
6	Tom Seaver T. Seaver	3,640	647	656	311	205	.603	2.86	231	61	1	4783.0	3,971	1,521	1,674	380	1,390	76	6	116	19,369	126	6.85	2.62	2.62	0.72	18.8	7.2	1.12	.259	3.15	79	3.03	85	7.47	286.1
7	Don Sutton D. Sutton	3,574	756	774	324	256	.559	3.26	178	58	5	5282.1	4,692	1,914	2,104	472	1,343	82	12	102	21,631	112	6.09	2.29	2.66	0.80	16.5	6.2	1.14	.261	3.58	92	3.23	90	7.99	181.2
8	Gaylord Perry G. Perry	3,534	690	777	314	265	.542	3.11	303	53	10	5350.0	4,938	1,846	2,128	399	1,379	108	33	164	21,953	160	5.95	2.32	2.56	0.67	16.1	6.3	1.18	.275	3.58	85	3.06	85	8.31	312.9
9	Walter Johnson W. Johnson	3,509	666	802	417	279	.599	2.17	531	110	34	5914.1	4,913	1,424	1,902	97	1,363	205	127		23,405	154	5.34	2.07	2.57	0.15	15.0	5.8	1.06	.264	2.89	68	2.42	76	7.48	472.8
10	Justin Verlander J. Verlander	3,468	538	538	262	152	.633	3.32	26	9	0	3477.1	2,955	1,283	1,388	364	975	116	0	27	14,213	97	8.98	2.52	3.56	0.94	24.4	6.9	1.13	.279	3.59	79	3.43	81	7.65	304.6
11	Max Scherzer M. Scherzer	3,412	459	468	215	112	.657	3.17	12	5	0	2886.0	2,355	1,015	1,088	337	759	112	2	20	11,662	79	10.64	2.37	4.50	1.05	29.3	6.5	1.08	.287	3.39	76	3.18	77	7.34	308.3
12	Greg Maddux G. Maddux	3,371	740	744	355	227	.610	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
13	Phil Niekro P. Niekro	3,342	716	864	318	274	.537	3.35	245	45	29	5404.0	5,044	2,012	2,337	482	1,809	123	83	86	22,677	226	5.57	3.01	1.85	0.80	14.7	8.0	1.27	.270	3.89	87	3.61	95	8.40	116.1
14	Fergie Jenkins F. Jenkins	3,192	594	664	284	226	.557	3.34	267	49	7	4500.2	4,142	1,669	1,853	484	997	84	37	116	18,400	62	6.38	1.99	3.20	0.97	17.3	5.4	1.14	.268	3.71	87	3.27	88	8.28	222.9
15	Pedro Martinez P. Martinez	3,154	409	476	219	100	.687	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
16	Bob Gibson B. Gibson	3,117	482	528	251	174	.591	2.91	255	56	6	3884.1	3,279	1,258	1,420	257	1,336	102	21	118	16,068	108	7.22	3.10	2.33	0.60	19.4	8.3	1.19	.268	3.29	78	2.89	81	7.60	290.5
17	Curt Schilling C. Schilling	3,116	436	569	216	146	.597	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
18	CC Sabathia	3,093	560	561	251	161	.609	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
19	John Smoltz J. Smoltz	3,084	481	723	213	155	.579	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
20	Clayton Kershaw C. Kershaw	2,997	437	440	216	94	.697	2.51	25	15	0	2781.1	2,124	775	850	232	691	44	1	28	10,972	105	9.70	2.24	4.34	0.75	27.3	6.3	1.01	.270	2.75	64	2.84	70	6.87	366.2
21	Zack Greinke Z. Greinke	2,979	541	586	225	156	.591	3.49	17	5	1	3389.1	3,207	1,315	1,410	367	762	79	8	25	13,877	101	7.91	2.02	3.91	0.97	21.5	5.5	1.17	.293	3.74	83	3.51	85	8.52	235
22	Jim Bunning J. Bunning	2,855	519	591	224	184	.549	3.27	151	40	16	3760.1	3,433	1,366	1,527	372	1,000	160	39	98	15,618	47	6.83	2.39	2.86	0.89	18.3	6.4	1.18	.273	3.65	88	3.22	88	8.22	195.2
23	Mickey Lolich M. Lolich	2,832	496	586	217	191	.532	3.44	195	41	10	3638.1	3,366	1,390	1,537	347	1,099	92	40	67	15,140	124	7.01	2.72	2.58	0.86	18.7	7.3	1.23	.280	3.80	96	3.19	87	8.33	188.5
24	Mike Mussina M. Mussina	2,813	536	537	270	153	.638	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
25	Cy Young C. Young	2,803	815	906	511	316	.618	2.63	749	76	17	7356.0	7,092	2,147	3,167	138	1,217	161	84		29,565	156	3.43	1.49	2.30	0.17	9.5	4.1	1.13	.275	3.87	74	2.84	79	8.68	620