Which Pitcher Will Rack Up the Most Strikeouts This Season?

There are plenty of pitchers in the majors who specialize in racking up strikeouts -- whether it be due to delivering pitches at a high velocity, generating movement on breaking pitches, or keeping hitters guessing with off-speed pitches.

Spencer Strider of the Atlanta Braves was the MLB's leader in strikeouts for the 2023 season, fanning 281 batters in just his second season as a starter. In each of the last five full seasons, the pitcher who has led all of baseball in strikeouts has tallied at least 248 strikeouts.

With the spring training games under way, here are the MLB strikeouts leader odds from FanDuel Sportsbook as well as a breakdown of the top contenders.

MLB Strikeouts Leader Odds

Here are the pitchers with the 20 shortest odds to record the most regular-season strikeouts in 2024.

Spencer Strider, Braves (+195)

Strider burst onto the scene in 2022 when he logged 202 strikeouts despite pitching only 131.2 innings in his first year starting for the Braves. The right-handed strikeout extraordinaire followed that up by leading the majors with 281 strikeouts in 186.2 innings in 2023, which is why he's the massive favorite to have the most Ks in 2024.

In each of his first two seasons as a starter, Strider has led baseball in strikeout rate (38.3% in 2022 and 36.8% in 2023). Strider's four-seam fastball -- one that averaged 97.2 MPH in 2023 -- coupled with his slider and changeup combination help him put away batters with relative ease each time he takes the mound.

While Strider saw his barrel rate balloon to 8.2% last season, he approaches each at-bat with the intention of getting three strikes as fast as possible. There's a chance Strider evolves his game even more in 2024 since he's only 25 years old, giving him a chance to be the first pitcher since Johan Santana in 2006 to lead the majors in strikeouts in back-to-back years.

Kevin Gausman, Blue Jays (+1000)

When looking at the odds for who could have the most regular-season strikeouts in 2024, there is a massive gap between Strider and the pitcher with the second-shortest odds: Kevin Gausman. Gausman has been a consistent contributor in each of the last three seasons, with the last two being with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Across his two seasons starting for the Blue Jays, Gausman has tallied at least 174.2 IP and 205 strikeouts in each. The experienced right-handed led the American League with 237 strikeouts in 2023, registering the highest strikeout rate (31.1%) of his career for a season in which he's eclipsed 100-plus innings.

Gausman has a split-finger fastball -- a pitch he threw 38.4% of the time in 2023 -- that is consistently a challenge for hitters to differentiate from his usual four-seam heater. The split generated a 43.2% whiff rate last campaign. The 33-year-old righty has been in the MLB's top six in strikeouts in each of the last three seasons, and he has a chance to be standing at the top in 2024.

Gerrit Cole, Yankees (+1200)

Gerrit Cole is a familiar face when it comes to leading all of baseball in strikeouts. The ace for the New York Yankees amassed the most strikeouts in the majors in 2022, and he's led the MLB in Ks in two of the last four full seasons.

Amid winning the AL Cy Young award last year, Cole logged a 2.63 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 27.0% strikeout rate in 209 innings. While the longtime starter notched the fifth-most total strikeouts (222) in 2023, his 27.0% strikeout rate was his lowest mark since the 2017 season.

Before producing a 27.0% strikeout a season ago, Cole posted at least a 32.4% strikeout rate in each of his previous five years on the bump. Betting on Cole is taking the field instead of Strider while also backing a pitcher who has shown the ability to cash this market in recent history.

Tyler Glasnow, Dodgers (+1800)

The Los Angeles Dodgers got an embarrassment of riches this offseason, signing Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernandez along with trading for Tyler Glasnow. Glasnow comes from the Tampa Bay Rays, where he flashed plenty of strikeout upside despite dealing with a long list of injuries.

The positives for Glasnow is the fact he tossed a career-high 120 innings in 2023, and he has registered a 33.0% strikeout rate or better in each of his last five seasons. On the other hand, he's tallied 88 innings or fewer in four of his last five seasons, the Dodgers typically deploy six-man rotations, and Glasnow has never come close to 200-plus strikeouts in a season.

The one pitch Glasnow uses the most to send batters back to the dugout is his curveball, which induced a whopping 52.2% whiff rate in 2023. We know Glasnow can strike out hitters with the best of them, but the jury is still out if he'll garner enough innings to be the regular-season leader in strikeouts in his debut season with the Dodgers.

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