No-Hitter By Angels Rookie Reid Detmers Suggests Single-Season Mark For Hitless Games Could Fall

No-hitters are unpredictable.

When Angels rookie Reid Detmers held Tampa Bay hitless Tuesday night, he entered the game with a 6.33 earned run average and 10 previous big-league starts – none longer than six innings.

On a staff headed by two-way star Shohei Ohtani and fireballer Noah Syndergaard, few expected the 22-year-old lefty to pitch the team’s 12th no-hitter and first in three years.

The 12-0 gem was also the first solo no-hitter of the new season, though five Mets combined to hold Philadelphia hitless in April.

A record nine no-hitters went into the books last year, with two unofficial ones occurring during doubleheaders, limiting them to seven innings.

With two in less than a month of the 2022 campaign, the single-season mark for no-hitters seems to be on life support. Batting averages and power production are down across the spectrum as the result of a short spring training, universal humidors, wet weather, and baseballs less juiced than last year’s batch.

Since the last solo no-hitter was also pitched by a rookie – Tyler Gilbert of the Arizona Diamondbacks in his first big-league start last Aug. 14 – predicting who or when will pitch one is practically impossible.

Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, and Mike Fiers are the only active pitchers with more than one but age could be working against all three.

Verlander, who pitched two for the Tigers and one for the Astros from 2007-2019, is pitching well again after returning from late-career Tommy John surgery but he’s 39. In fact, the Houston right-hander missed his fourth no-hitter May 10 after giving up a one-out single in the eighth against Minnesota.

He went on to win, 5-0, but has now carried no-hitters into the eighth inning eight times (Nolan Ryan holds the record for most no-hitters with seven).

“The guy’s a horse,” said Astros manager Dusty Baker, who lifted Verlander after the eighth. “When he pitches, the guys stay alert. He gets the ball quickly. He doesn’t mess around on the mound, so you keep the defense sharp when you do that.”

With a 5-1 record and 1.55 earned run average after five starts,Verlander is showing why the Astros pay him $25 million a year. With 230 wins in 17 seasons, he even has an outside chance to become the 25th member of the exclusive 300 Club.

Scherzer, two years younger, pitched both of his gems in 2015 while working for the Washington Nationals. He’s now in the first season of a three-year, $130 million contract with the New York Mets.

Fiers, like Verlander, fired no-hitters in both leagues but is no longer in the majors. He’s in the Mexican League, trying to work his way back.

Earlier this season, Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw pitched seven perfect innings before he was lifted. Manager Dave Roberts explained that he was concerned about the veteran lefty’s pitch count.

Kershaw, who went the route while throwing the only no-hitter of his career in 2014, threw only 80 pitches in his 2022 gem but it was his season debut after four Cactus League starts. He also had an elbow issue last year.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner, now 34, is pitching on a one-year, $17 million contract that kept him with the Dodgers, where he has spent his entire career.

Predicting the next no-hitter is like predicting when and where the next hurricane will come up the East Coast.

Jacob deGrom, the two-time Cy Young Award winner of the New York Mets, seems like a logical candidate atage 33 once he’s healthy again after a two-year bout with elbow and shoulder problems. He’s paid $33.5 million per year but could explore free agency this fall if he exercises an opt-out clause in his contract. The Mets hope to have him back before the All-Star break.

Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, and Steve Carlton combined for 15 Cy Young Awards but never threw a no-hitter, while Ryan’s resume shows seven no-hitters a record 5,714 strikeouts but no Cy Youngs.

Grover Cleveland Alexander, whose 90 career shutouts rank second to Walter Johnson’s 110 on the career list, once pitched four one-hitters in a single season (1915). But he never pitched a no-hit game.

Among other Hall of Fame pitchers without hitless games are Three Finger Brown, Don Drysdale, Whitey Ford, Lefty Grove, Fergie Jenkins, Eddie Plank, Robin Roberts, and Early Wynn.