BLS Roundtable: Who is going to throw the first no-hitter this year?

(Getty Images) There are few things more nerve-racking than watching the final innings of a possible no-hitter. There’s so much at stake with each pitch that it’s impossible not to get emotionally invested.

It doesn’t even matter if the pitcher going for the no-no plays for the team you support. Heck, he could be throwing the no-hitter against your favorite club. At a certain point in the contest, every fan starts rooting for the feat.

This season, we’ve yet to see a pitcher go the distance. Atlanta Braves righty Shelby Miller came incredibly close in his last start, losing his no-hitter with one out to go.

Miller may not have been able to get the job done, but someone is going to sooner or later. With that in mind, we asked our experts to predict which pitcher will throw the first no-hitter this season.

MAX SCHERZER, SP, NATIONALS

While the Washington Nationals are finally heating up after a slow start, Max Scherzer has been flat-out dominant right from the get-go in D.C. Scherzer has put up a 1.75 ERA in eight starts while striking out a career-best 29.5% of opposing hitters. He’s also averaging over seven innings per start, so he should have no trouble going the distance to claim 2015’s first no-hitter. It’s coming and it’s going to come soon. In fact, I’ll even predict it’ll happen in Scherzer’s next start, which is scheduled for Friday or Saturday against the hapless Philadelphia Phillies. You might want to tune in to that one. (Israel Fehr)

COREY KLUBER, SP, INDIANS

At the start of the year, in the annual BLS predictions, I chose Chris Sale as the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter this season. I’m taking a mulligan there and instead I’m switching, prison-of-the-moment style, and picking Corey Kluber. Bandwagon jumping? Maybe. But Kluber has been insanely good his past two starts, striking out a combined 30 batters. He had a really rough April, so what. Kluber has shown he can be every bit as dominant as he was last year when he won the AL Cy Young. His last two starts he certainly looked like a pitcher with a no-hitter inside him just waiting to get out. We’ll see it sooner or later, but probably sooner. (Mike Oz)

JOHNNY CUETO, SP, REDS

Since I’m a man of integrity, unlike Mike, I’m going to stick with my initial answer from our season preview. Cueto has a lot going for him here. He’s clearly an excellent pitcher, which helps, but I like the fact that he throws six different pitches. That should help keep hitters off guard throughout the start. On top of that, he has a deceptive delivery, in which he turns his back to the hitter. That should make it difficult for hitters to get their timing down. Manager Bryan Price has already shown a willingness to let Cueto throw a fair amount of pitches per start, so I don’t think there’s a question of whether he has the stamina to last the entire game. All the ingredients are there, it’s just a matter of everything coming together for one magical start. (Chris Cwik)

DALLAS KEUCHEL, SP, ASTROS

It’s hard to predict no hitters because they don’t necessarily go to the hottest pitchers, but it certainly helps to be in a grove. And few pitchers are hotter right now than Keuchel. The 27 year old is becoming a bona fide star and has no-hit stuff. While he doesn’t strikeout out a lot of batters – his K/9 rate is only 6.55 – opponents are hitting just .181 against him, and he has a WHIP of 0.95. Most of those outs come on the ground as he leads the majors with a 64 percent groundball rate. He also has the ability to go deep into games. He’s averaging over seven innings per start this year, and last season led the AL with five complete games. Add in an above average Astros defense, and a Gold Glove of his own, and it’s all a recipe for a no-hitter. (Ian Denomme)

JAKE ARRIETA, SP, CUBS

A late-bloomer, Jake Arrieta finally put it together last year, his age 29 season, with the Chicago Cubs. How good was he in just 25 starts? Good enough to post a career low 2.53 ERA in 156 2/3 innings, and on three occasions he was dominant enough to seriously flirt with history.

He basically occupied the Yu Darvish role as the pitcher who seemed to take a no-hitter into the late innings every other week, but never reached the finish line.

Arrieta carried a perfect game bid into the seventh inning against Cincinnati in June and two no-hit bids into the eighth inning later in the season.

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He finally looked and handled himself like an ace, which is something the Baltimore Orioles waited so many years to see happen. Once he got rolling, he was must-see TV, because every time he made it through 2-3 hitless innings, you knew something special could happen. He’s flashed that same brilliance a couple times already this season, and it seems like he has the mindset to eventually see one through.

The sooner the better, I say. (Mark Townsend)

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