A full list of 300-strikeout seasons from MLB pitchers since 2000

With the frequency of strikeouts exploding across MLB in the past 10-15 years, the 300-strikeout season has re-emerged in a big way.

While Hall of Famers like Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson, the two all-time strikeout leaders, are synonymous with both durability and power, today’s era of baseball is redefining the strikeout in a noticeable manner.

Undoubtedly a result of numerous factors that range from pitchers simply throwing harder and having more expansive pitch repertoires to more and more hitters selling out on power-driven, uppercut swings, strikeouts are more prevalent in baseball today than they have ever been in the modern game’s history.

Although single-season totals won’t approach the heights that Ryan reached in his prime, this can be attributed to pitchers not throwing nearly as much today as they did in the 1970’s and ’80s. Ryan’s single-season high of 383 strikeouts in 1973 was done in 326 innings pitched – the latter being a total we will almost certainly never see again in MLB.

After Ryan’s lengthy career as the face of the strikeout, it was the Big Unit that seemed to fill most of the void, coming within 11 strikeouts of Ryan’s high watermark in 2001, when Johnson fanned 372 batters in a wildly impressive 249.1 innings, boasting a 37.4% strikeout rate.

This campaign followed up on his unreal marks posted over the previous three seasons, which saw the lanky lefty total 329, 364 and 347 strikeouts, respectively. Johnson went on to make it five years in a row with 300+ strikeouts in 2002 in his age-38 season, totaling 334 strikeouts in that season.

Including Johnson’s three seasons of 300+ Ks to start the millennium, there have been nine seasons of 300 or more strikeouts since the turn of the century – with the feat only growing to be more impressive as pitchers throw fewer and fewer innings.

Milwaukee Brewers phenom Jacob Misiorowski undoubtedly has his eyes on the mark, posting 146 strikeouts in 99 innings of work so far – good for a strikeout rate of 38.8%, eclipsing Johnson’s mark during his career year in 2001.

It remains to be seen if Misiorowski will pitch enough to reach the benchmark, though he has already clearly demonstrated that health would be the only barrier to the young right-hander reaching the milestone sooner rather than later.

Though some more names will undoubtedly be added to the list in the coming years as strikeouts show no sign of slowing down, here’s a look at the 300 K seasons fans have been treated to over the past quarter-century-plus, beginning with the most recent occurrences:

1. Gerrit Cole – Houston Astros, 2019: 326 strikeouts
2. Justin Verlander – Houston Astros, 2019: 300 strikeouts
3. Max Scherzer – Washington Nationals, 2018: 300 strikeouts
4. Chris Sale – Boston Red Sox, 2017: 308 strikeouts
5. Clayton Kershaw – Los Angeles Dodgers, 2015: 301 strikeouts
6. Randy Johnson – Arizona Diamondbacks, 2002: 334 strikeouts
7. Curt Schilling – Arizona Diamondbacks, 2002: 316 strikeouts
8. Randy Johnson – Arizona Diamondbacks, 2001: 372 strikeouts
9. Randy Johnson – Arizona Diamondbacks, 2000: 347 strikeouts