300 strikeout club

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.

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.

[1] In the pre-modern era, with a mound closer to home plate and constant rule changes, strikeouts were more common.

Sandy Koufax was the first pitcher to record three 300-strikeout seasons, including the National League record (and then-MLB record) of 382 in 1965.
Rube Waddell 's 349 strikeouts in 1904 were a modern MLB record for 62 years. He was also the first modern-era pitcher to record multiple 300-strikeout seasons, in 1903 and 1904.
Hall of Famer Tim Keefe was the first MLB pitcher to record 300 strikeouts in a single season, with 359 in 1883.
Matt Kilroy recorded 513 strikeouts in his rookie season in 1886, the all-time single season MLB record.