Lincoln Zdunich
Parker Messick came so close. With three outs remaining in the game, the young southpaw had no-hit the Baltimore Orioles through eight innings. He also had only given up two free passes by walking Taylor Ward in the first and Leody Taveras in the sixth. Taveras eventually broke up the no-hit bid on the first pitch of the ninth.
Messick has dazzled for the Guardians so far this year. Until Thursday night, he had only allowed one run. That came in a solo shot allowed against the Chicago Cubs on April 5. Going into Thursday, he held a ridiculously low 0.51 ERA. He ended the no-no bid by giving up two runs in the ninth, raising his ERA to a 1.05 mark.
That number is still crazy low. Messick has been a co-ace alongside Gavin Williams for this Cleveland squad that continues to defy expectations. But Messick’s near no-no reminds MLB fans of something else.
Where Have All the No-Hitters Gone?
It feels like the no-hitter has ceased to exist, in part because it has. The last no-hitter came on a combined effort from Shota Imanaga, Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge of the Cubs. That game came on September 4 of the 2024 season. The last no-hitter pitched solo was for the San Francisco Giants with Blake Snell’s on August 2 of the same year.
There were four no-hitters in the 2024 season. Since then there have been a grand total of zero. And that’s not for lack of effort.
By far, the closest came in Los Angeles Dodgers‘ ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s 8 2/3 no-hitter against Baltimore last year. In what is arguably the greatest comeback ever, Orioles’ second baseman Jackson Holliday hit a ninth-inning, two-out home run to break it up before the O’s, down to their last out, managed to walk it off against the defending World Series champs.
There’s plenty of pitchers who could throw the next one. But no-hitters are fickle. They often come when you least expect it, and not always from who you’d expect. Take Snell. Many questioned his ability to go deeper than six innings because of his seeming inability to limit walks. But he managed to accomplish it on only 114 pitches.
Only time will tell if someone can get it done this season. Until then, the historic no-hitter drought marches on.
