Last year, it was a huge surprise when then Toronto pitcher Robbie Ray came out of nowhere to lead the majors in strikeouts. Ray struck out 248 batters during the 2021 regular season to capture the strikeout title.

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For his career, Ray actually has the highest K/9 innings ratio in the history of the game at 11.2. Can he repeat what he did last season?

Here’s a look at the 2022 MLB regular season strikeouts leader picks.

Cole Favored

The Yankees Gerrit Cole came within five strikeouts of tying the franchise record last year. No Yankees pitcher has led the American League in strikeouts since Al Downing did it in 1964 and no Yankees pitcher has won the overall MLB strikeout king since Vic Raschi tied Don Newcombe and Warren Spahn in 1951.

Cole is projected to have 248 strikeouts this season, which are 17 more than any other pitcher on the board. That’s why he is the favorite at +450 to lead the majors this season.

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Can deGrom Return to Form?

This is a category that rewards pitchers that are durable. The Mets deGrom started just 15 games last year and while he is arguably one of the best in the game, he will have to stay healthy to be a factor here.

He pitched 92 innings last year and just to give you an idea of how dominant he can be, deGrom’s K/9 innings was a career-high 14.3 last season. He struck out nearly half (45.1 percent) of the batters he faced last year.

If he could have stayed healthy, deGrom was on pace for somewhere in the neighborhood of 310 strikeouts for the season. That’s why he is given +500 odds to win the strikeout title this season.

Another Cy Young?

Corbin Burnes won the NL Cy Young last year mainly because of his MLB-best 2.43 ERA. He also finished fifth in strikeouts with 234. What’s interesting is that Burnes finished 32nd in number of innings pitched (167). He missed a few starts at the beginning of the season.

So, Burnes led the majors in K/9 at 12.6 and strikeout rate at 35.6 percent. If he would have made all 32 starts last season, he would have finished in the neighborhood of 265 strikeouts. Somehow, Burnes is fifth on the board at +1100.

Expert MLB Picks

2022 MLB Strikeouts Leader Prediction

Sure, it would be great for a Yankees pitcher to finally lead the majors in Ks, but this isn’t the year it’s happening. deGrom is coming back from injury and he’ll be in the thick of the battle, but the best pitcher in baseball right now is Burnes.

If the Brewers ace stays healthy and pushes 30 starts, his K/9 of 12.3 will give him the title of MLB strikeout king in 2022.

PICK: CORBIN BURNES +1100

2022 MLB Strikeouts Leader Props Odds

Gerrit Cole +450

Jacob deGrom +500

Max Scherzer +650

Robbie Ray +900

Corbin Burnes +1100

Shane Bieber +1100

Zack Wheeler +1200

Justin Verlander +1300

Aaron Nola +1400

Lucas Giolito +1400

Dylan Cease +1500

Kevin Gausman +1500

Walker Buehler +1800

Freddy Peralta +2000

Chris Sale +2000

Brandon Woodruff +2200

Carlos Rodon +2500

Shohei Ohtani +2500

Jose Berrios +2500

Blake Snell +3000

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