what pitcher has the most strikeouts in the last 20 years

Between May 29, 2005 and May 29, 2025, Justin Verlander has fanned the most hitters, with 3,457 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	H/9
1	Justin Verlander J. Verlander	3,457	536	262	150	.636	536	3.31	26	9	0	3467.2	2,943	1,277	1,381	363	973	116	0	27	14,170	97	8.97	2.53	3.55	0.94	24.4	6.9	1.13	.279	3.58	7.64
2	Max Scherzer M. Scherzer	3,408	467	215	112	.657	458	3.16	12	5	0	2881.0	2,349	1,012	1,085	337	756	112	2	20	11,640	78	10.65	2.36	4.51	1.05	29.3	6.5	1.08	.286	3.39	7.34
3	Clayton Kershaw C. Kershaw	2,974	435	212	94	.693	432	2.51	25	15	0	2753.2	2,102	768	841	228	684	44	1	28	10,863	103	9.72	2.24	4.35	0.75	27.4	6.3	1.01	.270	2.75	6.87
4	Zack Greinke Z. Greinke	2,844	552	217	139	.610	507	3.46	16	5	1	3187.2	3,005	1,225	1,317	336	723	66	8	22	13,032	98	8.03	2.04	3.93	0.95	21.8	5.5	1.17	.294	3.72	8.48
5	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	8.09
6	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	8.20
7	Chris Sale C. Sale	2,492	383	140	86	.619	303	3.05	16	3	12	2020.0	1,653	684	737	209	471	124	25	15	8,141	47	11.10	2.10	5.29	0.93	30.6	5.8	1.05	.298	3.28	7.36
8	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	8.57
9	CC Sabathia	2,455	427	194	123	.612	426	3.63	33	10	0	2748.2	2,640	1,109	1,223	302	762	99	0	35	11,496	56	8.04	2.50	3.22	0.99	21.4	6.6	1.24	.297	4.00	8.64
10	Gerrit Cole G. Cole	2,251	317	153	80	.657	317	3.18	8	5	0	1954.0	1,627	690	740	217	500	61	0	8	7,861	58	10.37	2.30	4.50	1.00	28.6	6.4	1.09	.292	3.41	7.49
11	James Shields J. Shields	2,234	407	145	139	.511	405	4.01	23	9	0	2616.0	2,581	1,167	1,267	361	746	97	1	22	10,993	107	7.69	2.57	2.99	1.24	20.3	6.8	1.27	.294	4.36	8.88
12	Adam Wainwright A. Wainwright	2,202	478	200	128	.610	411	3.53	28	11	3	2668.1	2,577	1,047	1,117	233	736	81	13	40	11,116	51	7.43	2.48	2.99	0.79	19.8	6.6	1.24	.298	3.77	8.69
13	Charlie Morton C. Morton	2,092	396	139	130	.517	389	4.08	3	2	0	2172.2	2,043	985	1,083	213	813	189	1	25	9,320	69	8.67	3.37	2.57	0.88	22.4	8.7	1.31	.304	4.49	8.46
14	David Price D. Price	2,076	400	157	82	.657	322	3.32	17	3	3	2143.2	1,930	790	865	221	562	63	19	16	8,807	40	8.72	2.36	3.69	0.93	23.6	6.4	1.16	.290	3.63	8.10
15	Madison Bumgarner M. Bumgarner	2,070	358	134	124	.519	355	3.47	16	7	0	2209.1	2,007	853	933	258	544	89	1	38	9,098	29	8.43	2.22	3.81	1.05	22.8	6.0	1.15	.285	3.80	8.18
16	Lance Lynn L. Lynn	2,015	364	142	99	.589	340	3.74	4	2	1	2006.1	1,856	834	916	231	704	89	4	21	8,520	61	9.04	3.16	2.86	1.04	23.7	8.3	1.28	.296	4.11	8.33
17	Yu Darvish Y. Darvish	2,007	282	110	88	.556	282	3.58	2	1	0	1706.0	1,394	678	712	217	544	77	0	8	7,009	79	10.59	2.87	3.69	1.14	28.6	7.8	1.14	.283	3.76	7.35
18	Ervin Santana E. Santana	1,970	423	150	128	.540	384	4.11	20	10	0	2473.2	2,378	1,129	1,215	329	772	103	20	35	10,427	104	7.17	2.81	2.55	1.20	18.9	7.4	1.27	.283	4.42	8.65
19	A.J. Burnett	1,896	324	124	115	.519	322	4.06	12	4	0	2024.2	1,930	914	1,005	204	781	118	1	19	8,698	125	8.43	3.47	2.43	0.91	21.8	9.0	1.34	.303	4.47	8.58
20	Dan Haren D. Haren	1,892	353	146	114	.562	351	3.67	16	6	1	2243.2	2,166	914	998	286	434	58	2	34	9,245	89	7.59	1.74	4.36	1.15	20.5	4.7	1.16	.286	4.00	8.69
21	John Lackey J. Lackey	1,875	354	150	112	.573	353	3.80	14	5	0	2269.1	2,249	959	1,043	251	631	107	0	24	9,562	89	7.44	2.50	2.97	1.00	19.6	6.6	1.27	.298	4.14	8.92
22	Gio Gonzalez G. Gonzalez	1,860	344	131	101	.565	328	3.70	4	2	0	1933.0	1,744	795	857	171	815	50	4	21	8,242	59	8.66	3.79	2.28	0.80	22.6	9.9	1.32	.294	3.99	8.12
23	Johnny Cueto J. Cueto	1,857	370	144	113	.560	365	3.52	18	8	0	2256.1	2,094	883	955	253	637	120	1	22	9,373	36	7.41	2.54	2.92	1.01	19.8	6.8	1.21	.283	3.81	8.35
24	Aaron Nola A. Nola	1,831	277	105	86	.550	277	3.78	6	4	0	1671.0	1,482	701	739	210	437	55	0	16	6,855	18	9.86	2.35	4.19	1.13	26.7	6.4	1.15	.294	3.98	7.98
25	Kevin Gausman K. Gausman	1,826	340	107	106	.502	301	3.83	3	1	0	1784.0	1,730	760	815	220	497	35	11	10	7,465	63	9.21	2.51	3.67	1.11	24.5	6.7	1.25	.309	4.11	8.73