There have been 296 No-Hitters thrown in the history of Major League Baseball (including no-hitters through 9 innings that were broken up in extra innings, and rain-shortened games). Not all of them were thrown by pitchers at the top of the game. In fact, some seem like they were pitched against all odds when considering the rest of their career.
These are the 5 Worst Pitchers to Ever Throw a No-Hitter (in the last 25 Years)
5) Eric Milton
STATS: 11 Seasons, 16.6 WAR, 89-85 W/L (.511 Win%), 4.99 ERA, 1.339 WHIP, 1127 SO, 2.49 SO/BB
ACCOLADES: 4 winning seasons, 1x All Star, 2x league leader in Homeruns Allowed, 1x league leader in Earned Runs Allowed,
Milton began his career with such promise. He was a part of the Gardenhire-coached Twins that was a perennial playoff contender. On September 11, 1999, Milton shut out the Anaheim Angels achieving the lofty goal while striking out 13. It was definitely the pinnacle for Eric Milton as his career didn't come close to the goal. Milton finished his career a wink away from an anemic ERA of 5. Milton peaked at 15 wins, and only achieved a winning record 4 of his 11 seasons. His best season was in 2001 when he was an All-Star, went 15-7 and had his best ERA of... 4.27.
4) Jonathan Sanchez
STATS: 8 seasons, 3.1 WAR, 39-58 W/L (.402 Win%), 4.70 ERA, 1.464 WHIP, 796 SO, 1.82 SO/BB)
ACCOLADES: 1 winning season
Sanchez was a virtual unknown coming up in the San Francisco Giants farm system. He was a back end rotation man trying to grind out a win in between Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner starts. On July 10, 2009, Sanchez held the San Diego Padres hitless, and was only a Juan Uribe error away from a perfect game.
Sanchez never came close to being this dominant again. He had just 1 winning season in his career and finished every season with an ERA over 4. His career WHIP is highest among all-time no-hitter pitchers at 1.464. Sanchez had one moment in the sun with his no-hitter, and faded into obscurity shortly afterward.
3) Jose Jimenez
STATS: 7 seasons, 2.4 WAR, 24-44 W/L (.353 Win%), 4.92 ERA, 1.454 WHIP, 319 SO, 1.72 SO/BB)
ACCOLADES: 1 winning season
Jimenez was a rookie when he pitched his thrilling no-hitter on June 25, 1999. Not only that, but he outdueled Diamondback ace and Hall of Famer Randy Johnson to the tune of a 1-0 victory. Jimenez struck out 6 and walked 3 in his masterpiece, and he ended up with one of the all time great no-hitter duels in modern history.
To say that he played above his talent level would be an understatement however. To say he was bound for greatness was also hard to believe. Jimenez finished that season with a record of 5-14 with an ERA of 5.85 and a WHIP of nearly 1.5. The rest of Jimenez's career didn't fare any better. He was traded to the Rockies and relegated to the bullpen. He had one successful season as the Rockies' closer, tapping down 41 saves. But his performances didn't get better, and his stats showed, ending up with a career ERA near 5, and accounting for an infinitesimal 2.4 wins above replacement. Jimenez found himself without a job after parts of only 7 seasons.
2) Phil Humber
STATS: 8 seasons*, 0.9 WAR, 16-23 W/L (.410 Win%), 5.31 ERA, 1.420 WHIP, 272 SO, 2.11 SO/BB)
*Only 3 seasons with more than 5 games played
ACCOLADES: none
If the name Phillip Humber sounds familiar, it's because he was supposed to be the next pitching phenom set to anchor the New York Mets rotation when they made him the 3rd overall pick in the 2004 MLB Draft. But Humber struggled to make waves in the minors. He made a few trips to the majors starting in 2006. By 2008, the Mets were tired of waiting and dumped him before he bounced around to the Twins' and Royals' minor league squads before finally landing a spot on the Chicago White Sox rotation. In his first season, Humber looked like he finally was showing off the talent that had brought him so much hype. He posted a 9-9 record and a decent 3.75 ERA.
It was his 2012 season that saw him reach the apex a starting pitcher can achieve. On April 21st--Humber's second start of the season--he retired all 27 batters he faced against the Seattle Mariners. Even more impressive, Humber did it all in 97 pitches including 9 strikeouts. It was a methodical shutdown of the Seattle Mariners leaving the Mets and other doubters eating their hat at what they let get away.
But Humber could hardly keep up with the phenomenal game. He ended the season with an ERA well over 6 and only mustered 5 wins while struggling with his command all season. Humber would only last one more season in the league before he involuntarily retired.
1) Bud Smith
STATS: 2 seasons, -0.4 WAR, 7-8 W/L (.467 Win%), 4.95 ERA, 1.447 WHIP, 81 SO, 1.76 SO/BB)
ACCOLADES: 1 winning season, 4th place in Rookie of the Year votes
The story of Bud Smith is almost tragic. Smith was a brilliant pitcher in the minor leagues. In the 2000 season, he won 17 games, threw 2 no-hitters, and was awarded with Baseball Weekly's coveted Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award. Smith seemed destined for a long tenure on board the St. Louis Cardinals' rotation. Smith's rookie season showed promise as he finished 6-3 in 14 starts with a respectable 3.83 ERA. It culminated on September 3, 2001 when Smith pitched a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres, striking out 6 and walking 4. He was impressive achieving something some of the best in the game had never achieved. For Smith's efforts, he achieved enough votes to rank 4th in Rookie of the Year voting (an award won by teammate Albert Pujols).
If that was the dream season, his sophomore season was a nightmare. Smith couldn't repeat the momentum he gained from his rookie season, bouncing up and down between the majors and AAA Memphis. His numbers saw him appear in 10 games, going 1-5, and posting a dreadful 6.94 ERA. Smith was released before the end of the year. He was picked up and bounced around the minors yet again, but never appeared in the Majors again. Smith was attempting a comeback up until 2007 when he was pitching for the Long Island Armada in the Golden Baseball League. Smith had by far the shortest tenure in the majors of any pitcher in the No-Hitter Club.
A No-Hitter is presumed to be an honor that only the best in the game can achieve. The ability to get 27 outs without giving up a single hit sounds like something the greatest pitchers can accomplish. But the last No-No to be pitched by a pitcher who would find themselves entered into the Hall of Fame* was Randy Johnson in 2004. Before that, it was Nolan Ryan in 1991. Any given pitcher on any given day can be locked in enough to get it done.
*Justin Verlander (2007), Roy Halladay (2010, twice), Felix Hernandez (2012), and Clayton Kershaw (2014) have all thrown No-Hitters with a career trajectory toward Hall of Fame consideration.
