Kansas City Royals' Zack Greinke Moves Up Historic Strikeout Leaderboards

Future Hall of Fame pitcher Zack Greinke returned from injury Tuesday, and the righty has now struck out the fourth most individual batters in MLB history.

Zack Greinke is quickly closing in on 3,000 career strikeouts, but he made some other history in his latest outing on Tuesday.

Greinke made his first appearance since coming off the 15-day injured list, tossing 4.0 scoreless innings in the Kansas City Royals' loss to the Oakland Athletics. It was only Greinke's second relief appearance since 2008, and he has now appeared in 576 games over the course of his career.

In those hundreds of games and thousands of innings, Greinke has induced more than a few strikeouts from more than a few unlucky foes.

According to Codify Baseball, Greinke has struck out 1,023 individual batters, which ranks fourth in MLB history. He passed Roger Clemens on Tuesday, with Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux still holding down the top three spots.

Most individual batters struck out in an MLB career:
Nolan Ryan, 1,182
Randy Johnson, 1,123
Greg Maddux, 1,049
Zack Greinke, 1,023 👈
Roger Clemens, 1,022 pic.twitter.com/EQ4WXEV3R1

— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) August 23, 2023

It's been a long road for Greinke over the past 20 years, with his journey starting all the way back in 2002 when the Royals picked him No. 6 overall in the MLB Draft. Greinke made it to the majors in 2004, finishing fourth in AL Rookie of the Year voting.

Greinke made his first All-Star Game in 2009, also locking up the AL Cy Young award. The Royals shipped Greinke to the Milwaukee Brewers ahead of the 2011 season, and then the Brewers flipped him to the Los Angeles Angels at the 2012 trade deadline.

Over the next nine years, Greinke racked up All-Star appearances, Gold Gloves and Cy Young votes out west, starting with his stint as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Greinke eventually signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks, who would then trade him to the Houston Astros in 2019.

Greinke re-signed with the Royals prior to last season, bringing him back to his roots at age 38.

After going 4-9 with a 3.68 ERA in 2022, Greinke is 1-12 with a 5.34 ERA in 2023.

Greinke is now 224-153 with a 3.49 ERA, 1.169 WHIP and 76.6 WAR for this career.

With his contract set to expire at the end of this season, Greinke has tossed 2,960 strikeouts in the majors. Greinke likely has a handful of starts ahead of him in September, but the veteran right-hander might need to return to the majors in 2024 if he wants to join the exclusive 3,000 strikeout club.

There are 19 players with 3,000 career strikeouts to their name. The only two who have hit that threshold without making the Hall of Fame are Clemens and Curt Schilling, who were left off of ballots largely for off-the-field reasons.

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