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San Diego Padres Starting pitcher Dylan Theis made MLB history on Thursday, throwing a no-hitter against the Washington Nationals. However, his game was unique among the 324 no-hitters ever recorded.
Heath is the 18th pitcher to throw a no-hitter, strike out nine and walk three or fewer in 114 or more innings. List Included are Hall of Famers Nolan Ryan (twice), Dave Stewart, Randy Johnson and Roy Halladay.
The number of no-hitters has more than doubled over the past decade, jumping from 14 between 2000 and 2009 to 33 between 2010 and 2019. Cease’s no-hitter, meanwhile, was his 15th since 2020, but little is known about how he achieved that feat.
Compared to the only no-hitter (thrown by the Houston Astros’ Ronell Blanco) in 2024, Seth’s stat line looks decidedly old-school. Blanco needed just 105 pitches and threw more strikeouts (74 to 71) while striking out (seven) at about the same ratio as walks (two).
Six of the past seven no-hitters have been completed with 108 pitches or fewer, with the only exception being Michael Lorenzen’s game in 2023 (124). We’re heading into the middle of the 2020s, but this is a stark contrast to the previous decade, when 27 no-hitters were completed with pitchers throwing the same number of pitches or more.
As analytics improve and more attention is paid to pitchers’ workloads, performances like Cease’s have become rare. While it’s not uncommon to see a player throw 100 pitches, few managers will let their pitchers go that far.
Perhaps that’s why, despite consecutive seasons of throwing at least 113 pitches, Heath needed to ask manager Mike Shildt to stay in the game and complete his no-hitter.
Stop just fourth This season, he is tied for the most pitches thrown 114 or more times in a game by a player, along with Chris Bassitt (115), Zack Wheeler (115, 114) and JP Sears (114). But those three weren’t very efficient, averaging just 6.2 innings in four games (five hits, three walks, one earned run).
There will be plenty of no-hitters in baseball’s future, but it may be a while before we see one like Heath’s.
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