300 strikeout club

Nolan Ryan (left) and Randy Johnson (right) are the only pitchers to strike out 300 or more batters in a single season six times. Ryan also holds the modern MLB record of 383 strikeouts, achieved in 1973.

In Major League Baseball (MLB), the 300 strikeout club is a group of pitchers who have struck out 300 or more batters in a single season. In the modern era (post-1900), 19 different pitchers have reached the 300 strikeout mark 38 times as of the 2024 MLB season.

Since 1900, Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson have recorded the most 300-strikeout seasons, with six each. The highest total in a 300-strikeout season is by Ryan with 383, followed by Sandy Koufax with 382. Rube Waddell was the first pitcher to record multiple 300-strikeout seasons, with two. Koufax and Curt Schilling each recorded three 300-strikeout seasons, followed by two each by Waddell, Sam McDowell, Walter Johnson, J. R. Richard, and Pedro Martínez.

In the pre-modern era, with a mound closer to home plate and constant rule changes, strikeouts were more common. Between 1880 and 1900, 23 different pitchers recorded 300 strikeouts or more 31 times. Six pitchers recording multiple 300-strikeout seasons; Tim Keefe and Amos Rusie each recorded three 300-strikeout seasons; Charles Radbourn, Ed Morris, John Clarkson, and Toad Ramsey each recorded two. Matt Kilroy holds the overall single-season strikeout record with 513, the only one to strike out 500 batters in a season; five other pitchers also recorded 400 or more strikeouts in a season, four of which occurred in the 1884 season.

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