MLB’s next 3,000-strikeout club member? Projecting the pitchers most likely to follow Clayton Kershaw

The 3,000-strikeout club has its first new member in more than six years, as Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw is poised to soon become the 20th pitcher to reach the prestigious milestone.

The chase for 3,000 strikeouts remains a holy grail for MLB pitchers, but for many, it’s simply unattainable. Just missing bats isn’t enough. Reaching 3,000 strikeouts requires durability in longevity in a role that simply doesn’t see much of it. Even as pitchers miss more bats, the path to 3,000 strikeouts has become extraordinarily difficult due to arm injuries and innings limits. 

Still, the club is so exclusive because it has never been easy to get into. Kershaw is the third active player to reach the 3,000-strikeout milestone, and it’s possible the 21st member of the club is active right now.

Here’s a look at who could be next to 3,000 strikeouts. 

MORE: Inside the 3,000-strikeout club

Who will be the next MLB pitcher to reach 3,000 strikeouts?

Only four active pitchers outside of the 3,000-strikeout club even have 2,000 strikeouts after Kershaw: Chris Sale, Gerrit Cole, Charlie Morton and Yu Darvish. Here is the active leaderboard:

Morton and Darvish won’t have enough time left to threaten 3,000 strikeouts, but Sale and Cole could. For them, it will all be about availability.

Sale (2,528 strikeouts) is seemingly on track for 3,000, but his health is going to have to cooperate. He dealt with serious injuries at the end of his tenure with the Red Sox, and his recent placement on the injured list for a fractured rib cage didn’t help the cause. Still, he’s pitched well enough since arriving in Atlanta that he could stick around long enough to rack up 472 more strikeouts. 

Sale’s strikeout rate remains high, hovering above 11 per nine innings since he landed with the Braves. He recorded 225 over 177.2 innings in 2024 and had 114 in 89.1 innings in 2025 before his placement on the IL. If he can cut the gap to about 400 by the end of 2025, Sale might only need two fully healthy seasons to at least approach 3,000 strikeouts. If he pitches three more years, or through his age-39 season, he will have a little bit of leeway when it comes to injuries. 

The Braves have a team option on Sale for 2026, but his lack of a long-term contract makes his path forward more uncertain. He’s been dominant with Atlanta, but will injury concerns force the two sides to take his deal year-by-year after 2025? 

Cole is sitting on 2,251 strikeouts but will miss the entire 2025 season and is set to turn 35 in September. If he can successfully do what Sale did and return to form after Tommy John Surgery, 3,000 strikeouts is within reach — but that would likely require Cole to pitch until he’s 40, or at least close to it. Sale is at least proving that an older ace can come back after major elbow surgery and still miss bats at a high rate. 

MORE: Inside MLB home run records by game, season and career

Further down the leaderboard, 32-year-old Aaron Nola seemingly has a chance after such a durable first decade in the majors — being under contract through 2030 helps — but it’s fair to wonder whether he will simply be good enough to churn out more than 1,000 additional strikeouts after some inconsistent seasons. 

For pitchers under 30, it can be tough to project the likelihood of a milestone that requires durability and longevity. Even the most durable pitcher is constantly at risk of major surgery costing them at least a year. Even so, here’s a look at the strikeout leaders under 30 years old:

That leaderboard paints a grim picture. Only three pitchers under 30 have 1,000 career strikeouts, and none are seemingly on track to threaten the 3,000-strikeout club. While baseball does have some young flamethrowers, including Paul Skenes and Spencer Strider, their milestone quests are going to require significant luck when it comes to health and durability before that conversation begins. 

MORE: Who are MLB’s 50-50 club members?

Most strikeouts in MLB history

Nolan Ryan holds the record for most strikeouts in MLB history with 5,714, coming in at 839 more strikeouts than second-ranked Randy Johnson.

Ryan’s record is almost certainly unbreakable. He spent 27 seasons in the major leagues, which would be extraordinarily difficult for any pitcher to do in this era or any era, and he recorded five seasons of more than 280 innings; no pitcher will be doing that again, at least under the current structure of the MLB season.

Here is the complete list of pitchers with at least 3,000 strikeouts in MLB history:

* — Active