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A complete list of every MLB no hitter thrown during the 2021 season, plus some history

By Josh Hill

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - MAY 19: Corey Kluber #28 of the New York Yankees celebrates a no-hitter with Luke Voit #59 and Kyle Higashioka #66 against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on May 19, 2021 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - MAY 19: Corey Kluber #28 of the New York Yankees celebrates a no-hitter with Luke Voit #59 and Kyle Higashioka #66 against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on May 19, 2021 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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How many MLB no-hitters have been thrown this season and what’s the history behind the pitching feat? 

If you’ve noticed more no-hitters than usual this season, you’re not alone.

After an offensive boom, MLB made some changes to quell the mass of people yelling from their front lawn about how the game was becoming too much fun. According to MLB.com, “the league saw a record 6,776 homers hit in 2019 (the last 162-game season that was played), the home run rate fell from 6.6 percent of plate appearances in ’19 to 6.5 percent during the pandemic-shortened ’20 campaign.”

The solution to baseball being way more interesting than it’s been for a very long time was to alter the way the baseballs are manufactured. This isn’t a joke: MLB hired scientists to figure out why there was suddenly so much offense in an effort to make sure it stopped happening.

And boy has it ever stopped.

2021 no-hitters

So far this season, there have been six no-hitters thrown.

That puts baseball one no-hitter shy of a modern era record for no-hitters thrown in a season and two behind the all-time record that dates back to 1884. That year there were eight no-hitters thrown, while seven no-hitters were thrown in 1990, 1991, and 2012.

The following pitchers have recorded a no-hitter in the 2021 season:

  • Joe Musgrove of the San Diego Padres (April 9 vs Texas Rangers)
  • Carlos Rodon of the Chicago White Sox (April 15 vs Cleveland Indians)
  • John Means of the Baltimore Orioles (May 5 vs Seattle Mariners)
  • Wade Miley of the Cincinnati Reds (May 7 vs Cleveland Indians)
  • Spencer Turnbull of the Detroit Tigers (May 18 vs Seattle Mariners)
  • Corey Kluber of the New York Yankees (May 19 vs Texas Rangers)

This doesn’t count the seven-inning no-hitter thrown by Madison Bumgarner, otherwise, it would be seven no-hitters so far.

This season has absolutely obliterated the notion that a no-hitter is a baseball rarity. Consider that prior to this season there were 304 no-hitters recorded since 1876, which averages out to about two no-hitters per season.

We’re less than two full months into the season, and the average has already been tripled.

How many no-hitters in MLB history?

Counting the most recent no-hitter pitched by Kluber, there have been 310 no-hitters recorded in the 144-year history of the game. The no-hitter hasn’t existed for as long as the game of baseball has, though. While the first official game was recorded in 1846, the National League wasn’t established until 1876 and the founding of MLB as we know it today didn’t happen until 1903.

We don’t know how many no-hitters may have happened in the 30 years between the Knickerbockers playing the first recorded game and the establishment of the National League but the official number on the books stands at 310 no-hitters thrown.

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