Diamond: Why it won’t take long until the next no-hitter
From Jared Diamond at the Wall Street Journal on May 9, 2018:
Less than a week after he announced his presence with a 16-strikeout gem, Seattle Mariners left-hander James Paxton once again captivated the baseball world on Tuesday night. He no-hit the Toronto Blue Jays, a 99-pitch masterpiece that solidified his place as one of the sport’s most unheralded stars. Hailing from Ladner, British Columbia, Paxton, whose final pitch of the game registered at 99 mph, joined Dick Fowler in 1945 as the only Canadian-born hurlers ever to throw a no-hitter.
“To have it happen in Canada, what are the odds of that happening?” Paxton told reporters afterward. “Yeah, you couldn’t write this stuff.”
Then again, based on what has happened in the first six weeks of this season, maybe you can. There have already been three no-hitters in 2018, or one more than the last two years combined. Sean Manaea of the Oakland Athletics started the parade of no-nos against the Boston Red Sox on April 21, while Los Angeles Dodgers rookie Walker Buehler and three relievers combined to hold the San Diego Padres hitless on May 4.
Read the full article here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-it-wont-be-long-until-the-next-no-hitter-1525889527
Originally published: May 10, 2018. Last Updated: May 10, 2018.