300 Strikeouts in Cole's Future?

Houston right-hander Gerrit Cole is currently on pace to strike out 303 hitters this season, a first for him. With pitch counts and openers, 300 strikeouts has become a much more difficult milestone to reach for the modern pitcher which got me wondering: how many 300 strikeout pitchers have their been in my lifetime (1981 to now)? Fortunately, thanks to the wonders of the internet, we can look this stuff up. Here's the list chronologically:

1986 - Mike Scott - Houston Astros - 306
1989 - Nolan Ryan - Texas Rangers - 301
1993 - Randy Johnson - Seattle Mariners - 308
1997 - Curt Schilling - Philadelphia Phillies - 319
1997 - Pedro Martinez - Montreal Expos - 305
1998 - Randy Johnson - Seattle Mariners/Houston Astros - 329
1998 - Curt Schilling - Philadelphia Phillies - 300
1999 - Randy Johnson - Arizona Diamondbacks - 364
1999 - Pedro Martinez - Boston Red Sox - 313
2000 - Randy Johnson - Arizona Diamondbacks - 347
2001 - Randy Johnson - Arizona Diamondbacks - 372
2002 - Randy Johnson - Arizona Diamondbacks - 334
2002 - Curt Schilling - Philadelphia Phillies - 316
2015 - Clayton Kershaw - Los Angeles Dodgers - 301
2017 - Chris Sale - Boston Red Sox - 308
2018 - Max Scherzer - Washington Nationals - 300

A couple interesting observations:

1) Of the eight pitchers on the list, half of them have ties to the Astros (Mike Scott, Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling).

2) Nolan Ryan, for all his strikeout accolades, is only on this list once, and actually only eclipsed 300 strikeouts six times in his 27 seasons. He was at his most dominant in a six year stretch from 1972-1977 when he struck out at least 327 hitters five times with a high of 383 in 1973.

3) Another former Astro, Roger Clemens, isn't on this list at all. Clemens fanned 291 in 1988 and 292 in 1997, but that was as close as he'd get to this exclusive club.

4) Sticking with our Astros theme, Justin Verlander, second among active players in strikeouts (behind only CC Sabathia), had 290 last year, a career high for him. He is on pace for 291 this season.