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MLB: Baseball's unlikeliest no-hitters in recent history

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 10:20 p.m. ET

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The no-hitter is near the pinnacle of individual pitching accomplishments, but the feat isn't just reserved for all-time greats. Which MLB pitchers have surprised us over the past couple decades?

Edinson Volquez certainly raised a few eyebrows on Saturday night by tossing the first no-hitter of the 2017 MLB season. With all due respect to the veteran right-hander, he's probably not the first pitcher most fans would expect to accomplish such a feat. Even Volquez's most dedicated admirers would have to admit that while he's had some nice seasons over the course of his 13-year career, he's also been fairly erratic.

That's what makes the no-hitter one of the most revered and fascinating achievements in baseball. While plenty of Hall of Famers and all-time great hurlers have held their opponents hitless over an entire game, there are more than a few journeymen, fresh-faced rookies and other assorted misfits who are also part of the club.

We don't bat an eye at the fact that legends like Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson and Nolan Ryan threw no-hitters, but Edinson Volquez coming off a season in which he put up a 5.37 ERA? That's baseball for you.

Sometimes a no-hitter just comes from the right person at the right time, however. Volquez's special night came on the birthday of his late friend Yordano Ventura, and he dedicated his performance to him and Jose Fernandez. That's a pretty amazing tribute.

Let's take a look back at some of the more surprising no-hitters in recent memory. For the purposes of this list, we're only considering regulation no-hitters thrown by a single pitcher. Perfect games are included. With 296 no-hitters in the record books, we'll also be sticking to the past 20 years or so for the sake of scope.

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Honorable Mentions

Mike Fiers – Houston Astros – August 21, 2015

The Astros acquired Mike Fiers as rotation help during the 2015 season, and he did a nice job down the stretch, posting a 3.32 ERA in 10 outings. In late August of that year, he twirled a no-hitter against the Dodgers, walking three with 10 strikeouts. Fiers has largely been a dud for Houston since then, sporting a 4.59 ERA since the beginning of 2016.

Homer Bailey – Cincinnati Reds – September 28, 2012 and July 2, 2013

Homer Bailey throwing a no-hitter perhaps isn't completely outlandish in itself. But would you have pegged him as a prime candidate to hurl two of them within a nine-month span?

Jonathan Sanchez – San Francisco Giants – July 10, 2009

Were it not for a Juan Uribe error, Jonathan Sanchez would have been perfect against the Padres, striking out 11 without a walk on the evening. A leaping grab by center fielder Aaron Rowand in the ninth inning also helped. The no-hitter was the highlight of an otherwise forgettable career: Sanchez posted a 4.70 ERA over eight seasons with the Giants, Royals, Rockies and Pirates.

Eric Milton – Minnesota Twins – September 11, 1999

Best known to Yankees fans as the former first-round draft pick that helped them land Chuck Knoblauch just prior to the late-90s dynasty run, Eric Milton never lived up to his potential during his 11-year career. He put a no-hitter on his resume in his second big league season, however, walking two and striking out 13 against the Angels.

Jose Jimenez – St. Louis Cardinals – June 25, 1999

Jose Jimenez has a 4.92 ERA to show for his seven years in the majors, but he also boasts a no-hitter. As a rookie for the Cardinals in 1999, he held the D-Backs hitless and secured a razor's edge 1-0 victory. The 25-year-old righty walked two and hit a batter while striking out eight. And the opposing pitcher he outdueled that day? Some guy named Randy Johnson, who also went the distance and notched 14 strikeouts.

Chris Heston

The Giants have seen 17 no-hitters over the years, spanning their time in both New York and San Francisco. That's good for the fourth-most in history among major league franchises. Some hallowed names have accomplished the feat in a Giants uniform, including Christy Mathewson, Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry. More recently, we've watched Matt Cain (a perfecto) and Tim Lincecum (two no-no's) join the group. Oh, and Chris Heston.

On June 9, 2015, a 27-year-old Heston no-hit the Mets in a 5-0 victory at Citi Field. It was just the 15th appearance of his career. As a relatively older rookie, few saw this kind of performance coming from Heston. He racked up 11 strikeouts on the day, including the final three hitters he faced in the ninth inning. Interestingly enough, he issued no walks in the outing: Three hit batters were all that separated him from perfection.

Heston carried a 4.29 ERA into that game, and he wasn't very remarkable after it. Over his remaining 19 starts in the 2015 campaign, he posted a 4.08 ERA and 1.40 WHIP. From there, he just about fell off the face of the earth. Heston made four appearances out of the bullpen in 2016, allowing six runs in five innings. He was sent down to the minors and never brought back up.

During the offseason, Heston was traded to the Mariners. He had just two outings for Seattle this season (one of them a start) and was shelled for 11 earned runs on 14 hits in five frames. Unsurprisingly, he was designated for assignment and picked up near the end of May by the Dodgers, where he'll almost certainly just be minor league depth. He'll always have the no-hitter, though.

Philip Humber

Philip Humber made his big league debut in 2006 for the Mets but pitched only 51.1 innings over 26 appearances in his first five seasons. He managed a 5.26 ERA and 1.62 WHIP during that span while also bouncing to the Twins and Royals. Humber seemed to be getting it together with the White Sox in 2011, posting a 3.75 ERA (116 ERA+) and 1.18 WHIP in 163 innings.

The following season was largely a disaster. . . with one very important exception. On April 21, in his second start of the 2012 campaign, Humber threw nine perfect innings against the Mariners in Seattle. He struck out nine batters on the afternoon and made efficient work of his foes, needing just 96 pitches to complete the feat.

What followed was a quick fall from grace. Humber sputtered to a 7.39 ERA over his next 24 outings. He also missed about a month with a strained right elbow. By the end of the year, he had been relegated to bullpen duty.

Humber spent one more season with a major league club, generating an ugly 7.90 ERA for the Astros over 54.2 innings spent primarily as a reliever in 2013. During the next few years he attempted to catch on with the A's and Padres, while also pitching in Korea. In 2016, he officially called it a career as one of just 23 pitchers to hurl a perfect game.

Edwin Jackson

If any of the no-hitters on this list was a real trial of intestinal fortitude, it was this one. Edwin Jackson's bid to make history with the Arizona Diamondbacks resembled one of the labors of Hercules rather than the dominant performance you more often see in a no-no.

Jackson navigated eight walks (yes, eight) and a hit batter on the way to nailing down his no-hitter against the Tampa Bay Rays on June 25, 2010. He needed a staggering 149 pitches to finish the task. For reference, that's 15 more than Johan Santana threw during the 2012 no-hitter that may or may not have ended his career.

Nevertheless, it was a somewhat fitting kind of no-hitter for a pitcher who has run the gamut through 14 seasons. Jackson has enjoyed a handful of respectable seasons as a major leaguer, including an All-Star campaign for the Tigers in 2009. Of course, four years later he would lead the league with 18 losses and an ERA just under 5.00 with the Cubs.

He's been mediocre for the most part, as evidenced by his lifetime 4.65 ERA (90 ERA+). Coming off a 5.89 ERA in 21 appearances for the Marlins and Padres last season, Jackson struggled to find work for 2017. He's currently in the Orioles system trying to make it back to the bigs.

Dallas Braden

Dallas Braden had an eventful first two months of the 2010 season. On April 22, he famously butted heads with Alex Rodriguez over a perceived breach of on-field baseball etiquette. A-Rod jogged across the Oakland Coliseum pitcher's mound on his way back to first base following a foul ball. Braden took offense and exchanged words with the Yankees third baseman between innings.

Afterwards, Braden continued to grumble about Rodriguez's apparent faux pas, telling the media, "You want to run across the mound? Go run laps in the bullpen. That's my mound."

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Only a few weeks later, Braden made headlines again, this time for a very different reason. The lefty tossed a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays in Oakland, striking out six and recording all 27 outs on 109 pitches. All in all, a thoughtful Mother's Day present.

Braden completed a strong campaign in 2010, finishing with a 3.50 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in 192.2 innings. Unfortunately, he made only three more starts the following year before a series of shoulder injuries prematurely ended his career after parts of five seasons.

The perfect game and clash with A-Rod opened up some post-retirement opportunities for Braden, however. He joined ESPN's baseball coverage for three seasons before the network's avalanche of 2017 layoffs. Like Humber, Braden will surely be remembered as one of baseball's most unexpected perfect game artists.

Bud Smith

Bud Smith pitched in just 27 games during his MLB career, but one of them was a true gem. As a rookie for the St. Louis Cardinals, the 21-year-old Smith no-hit the Padres in San Diego on September 3, 2001. It was only the 13th appearance of his career, which put the Cardinals coaching staff in something of a quandary as he reached the later innings.

Smith's no-hitter certainly didn't come easy. The southpaw walked four batters and labored through 134 pitches. Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan later said that he was actually hoping someone would break up the no-hit bid so they could remove Smith from the game with a clear conscience. It was a grind, but he got there.

The no-no served as an exclamation point on a solid debut season. Smith managed a 3.83 ERA (113 ERA+) and 1.22 WHIP in 84.2 innings, finishing fourth in the NL Rookie of the Year race. What seemed like the start of a promising young career ended abruptly, however.

Smith made only 11 outings in 2002, reeling to the tune of a 6.94 ERA and 1.85 WHIP over 48 frames. He washed out of the majors shortly thereafter, ending his career with a 4.95 ERA.

Oddly enough, Smith's no-hitter remains the most recent one for a proud and storied Cardinals franchise that has surprisingly seen a rather modest nine such feats in its long history.