Year of the No-Hitter in the Minors?
Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2019 8:47 pm
Is this the year of the no-hitter in the PEBA-verse?
Well, here’s a shocking answer: it depends.
If you’re looking at the major league level, the answer is a flat “no.” So far, at least, Amsterdam’s Salvador Cantú has thrown the lone PEBA no-hitter - against San Antonio on May 22.
But if you look at the AAA or Short A levels, the answer is, “Well, sure looks like it.”
And if you look just a bit deeper, you’ll find that the number of no-hitters in the minors has been on the rise pretty much across all levels in recent seasons, with one exception.
We’ll get to that in a moment.
First, here’s what’s happening now:
The AAA Global Baseball Brotherhood so far this season has recorded five no-hitters, including one perfect game. This matches the all-time high number of no-nos for the league recorded in 2027 … and there are still six weeks left in this season!
In the first six weeks of the Short-A Surf and Snow Amalgamation schedule, four pitchers have thrown no-hitters. That matches the previous full-season high (four), recorded in 2027 and 2026. With nine weeks left in the Surf and Snow schedule (it goes deeper into September than the other levels), the odds look good for the league to break its record.
The Class A North American Farm Affiliation also has seen a good number of no-hitters: four so far this season, including a perfect game. That’s two below the all-time record of six, set in 2025, but there are still six weeks left in the season, so who knows?
That leaves the AA Great Northern League yet to be heard from. So far, it’s been a quiet year there: just one no hitter. The record for the Great Northern is 4, recorded in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Last season, there were 3.
As for the larger pattern, no-hitters have become much more common in recent years – especially in the lower minors.
• The Surf and Snow has averaged 3.6 no-hitters per season since 2025, compared to 1.0 from 2008-2024.
• NAFTA has averaged 4.25 per year since 2022, compared to 0.53 per season from 2007 to 2021.
• AAA has averaged 3.5 per season since 2026 , compared to 1.2 from 2007 to 2025.
The sole exception to this minor league pattern, as you might guess from its current season numbers, is the AA Great Northern. Its peak years for no-hitters were 2022-2024, which had 4 each. The average since then, however, has been 1.6.
How about the majors?
No-hitters are still reasonably rare events in the PEBA. The all-time record year for no hit games was 2015, with five. There have been three seasons with four: 2023, 2013, and 2009. But, since 2023, the average number of no-hitters in the majors has been a miserly 1.66 per season.
Will the minor league trend eventually catch on in the PEBA, or will the higher grade of hitting keep no-hitters relatively rare?
The only way to answer that is to … Play Ball!
Well, here’s a shocking answer: it depends.
If you’re looking at the major league level, the answer is a flat “no.” So far, at least, Amsterdam’s Salvador Cantú has thrown the lone PEBA no-hitter - against San Antonio on May 22.
But if you look at the AAA or Short A levels, the answer is, “Well, sure looks like it.”
And if you look just a bit deeper, you’ll find that the number of no-hitters in the minors has been on the rise pretty much across all levels in recent seasons, with one exception.
We’ll get to that in a moment.
First, here’s what’s happening now:
The AAA Global Baseball Brotherhood so far this season has recorded five no-hitters, including one perfect game. This matches the all-time high number of no-nos for the league recorded in 2027 … and there are still six weeks left in this season!
In the first six weeks of the Short-A Surf and Snow Amalgamation schedule, four pitchers have thrown no-hitters. That matches the previous full-season high (four), recorded in 2027 and 2026. With nine weeks left in the Surf and Snow schedule (it goes deeper into September than the other levels), the odds look good for the league to break its record.
The Class A North American Farm Affiliation also has seen a good number of no-hitters: four so far this season, including a perfect game. That’s two below the all-time record of six, set in 2025, but there are still six weeks left in the season, so who knows?
That leaves the AA Great Northern League yet to be heard from. So far, it’s been a quiet year there: just one no hitter. The record for the Great Northern is 4, recorded in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Last season, there were 3.
As for the larger pattern, no-hitters have become much more common in recent years – especially in the lower minors.
• The Surf and Snow has averaged 3.6 no-hitters per season since 2025, compared to 1.0 from 2008-2024.
• NAFTA has averaged 4.25 per year since 2022, compared to 0.53 per season from 2007 to 2021.
• AAA has averaged 3.5 per season since 2026 , compared to 1.2 from 2007 to 2025.
The sole exception to this minor league pattern, as you might guess from its current season numbers, is the AA Great Northern. Its peak years for no-hitters were 2022-2024, which had 4 each. The average since then, however, has been 1.6.
How about the majors?
No-hitters are still reasonably rare events in the PEBA. The all-time record year for no hit games was 2015, with five. There have been three seasons with four: 2023, 2013, and 2009. But, since 2023, the average number of no-hitters in the majors has been a miserly 1.66 per season.
Will the minor league trend eventually catch on in the PEBA, or will the higher grade of hitting keep no-hitters relatively rare?
The only way to answer that is to … Play Ball!