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2025 MLB Most Regular Season Strikeouts Odds

Which pitcher will strike out the most batters in Major League Baseball during the 2025 regular season?

Last season, American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal led the league with 228 strikeouts. It was the first season since 1981 (not including the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign and strike-shortened 1994 campaign) that a pitcher led MLB in Ks despite having fewer than 230 for the year.

Based on how MLB teams have cycled through pitchers over the last few seasons thanks to analytics, seasons like Randy Johnson's four-year streak of leading the league with 330+ strikeouts are not likely to be seen again. But there are still plenty of pitchers who often fool batters with speed and stuff.

Ahead of 2025 Spring Training and now that most of the big-name free agent pitchers have signed contracts, let's look at the odds to lead all of MLB in Ks this season.

2025 MLB Most Regular Season Strikeouts Odds

Paul Skenes

+600

Tarik Skubal

+900

Garrett Crochet

+1000

Blake Snell

+1600

Dylan Cease

+1600

Gerrit Cole

+2200

Hunter Greene

+2200

Cole Ragans

+2500

Logan Gilbert

+2500

Zack Wheeler

+2500

Pittsburgh Pirates right-handed starting pitcher Paul Skenes, the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year and third-place finisher in NL Cy Young voting, enters the 2025 campaign as the favorite to strike out the most batters in the regular season.

Priced at +600, Skenes finished second among qualified pitchers in strikeout rate (33.1), had the fastest average fastball (98.8 MPH), and posted an 11-3 record for a team that went 76-86. Plus, his 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings was one of the highest among starters, although he had a smaller sample size after being called up in mid-May.

Reigning strikeout leader and AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal is second in the odds to repeat as the league leader in Ks at +900. He stuck out 228 batters in 2024.

Skubal went from being a very good pitcher in 2023 to the league's best in 2024 as he posted a 2.39 ERA, 0.922 WHIP and 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings. Plus, he had the sixth-highest strikeout percentage (30.3), fifth-highest whiff percentage (31.9) and ninth-highest swing percentage (51.8).

Third in the market at +1000 is new Boston Red Sox lefthander Garrett Crochet, who posted 209 strikeouts, a 3.58 ERA and 1.068 WHIP for a terrible Chicago White Sox team in 2024. He led MLB in strikeout rate (35.1) and his 12.9 strikeouts per nine innings was the league's best. He should be fresh entering the season after the White Sox put him on a pitch count in late 2024 to preserve his arm and trade value.

Newly-signed Los Angeles Dodgers lefty starter Blake Snell and San Diego Padres righthander Dylan Cease are tied for a slightly distant fourth in the odds at +1600.

Snell, a two-time Cy Young winner, played catchup for much of last season signing a short-term deal with the San Francisco Giants during Spring Training. He still posted 145 total Ks, a 3.12 ERA, 1.048 WHIP, 34.7 strikeout percentage and 12.5 strikeouts per nine innings over 104.0 innings across 20 starts.

Cease, who had 224 strikeouts in '24, also posted a 3.47 ERA and 1.067 WHIP en route to a 14-11 record. He finished eighth among qualified pitchers in strikeout percentage at 29.4 percent, and he ranked second in whiff percentage at 32.4 percent.

Further back in the odds, between 20/1 and 30/1, are New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, Cincinnati Reds flamethrower Hunter Greene, Kansas City Royals breakout lefty Cole Ragans, Seattle Mariners starter and 2024 MLB leader in WHIP and innings pitched Logan Gilbert, Philadelphia Phillies veteran ace Zack Wheeler, and Atlanta Braves pitcher and reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale.

Outsiders to lead the league in strikeouts - from 30/1 to 40/1 - are Corbin Burnes of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Freddy Peralta of the Milwaukee Brewers, Jacob deGrom of the Texas Rangers, Aaron Nola of the Phillies, Framber Valdez of the Houston Astros, Luis Castillo of the Mariners, Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers, and Yusei Kikuchi of the Los Angeles Angels.

Read the latest MLB news on site.

Odds displayed within this article were correct at the time of writing and are subject to change.

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