With Homer Bailey's second career no-hitter last night, it seems only fitting that this topic is brought up. Nolan Ryan was a fantastic pitcher, throwing an astounding seven no-hitters! That record is classified as "unbreakable". But, could someone actually break Ryan's record? Let's break it down.
Nolan Ryan: 27 Big League Service Years, 3.19 ERA, 6.6 H/9, 1.247 WHIP
Here are the active no-hitter leaders:
Roy Halladay -- 2
Mark Buehrle -- 2
Justin Verlander -- 2
Homer Bailey -- 2
Each of these four pitchers have 2 career no hitters. They'd need 5 more in, for some of them, a very brief amount of time. Let's look at their stats.
Roy Halladay: 16 Big League Service Years, 3.37 ERA, 8.7 H/9, 1.175 WHIP
Mark Buehrle: 14 Big League Service Years, 3.86 ERA, 9.4 H/9, 1.278 WHIP
Justin Verlander: 9 Big League Service Years, 3.42 ERA, 7.9 H/9, 1.188 WHIP
Homer Bailey: 7 Big League Service Years, 4.36 ERA, 9.1 H/9, 1.335 WHIP
Justin Verlander seems to have the numbers most comparable to Ryan's. He also cam throw into the low triple digits, which Ryan could also do. His H/9 average is nowhere near Ryan's, which signals to me that he's not good enough to get eight no hitters.
To catch up to Ryan is nearly impossible at this point for pitchers across baseball. But, if pitchers continue to "rule the game", I guess it's possible (but improbable) for anyone to be as dominate as Ryan. This gives me such a better understanding for just how good "The Express" was. He could throw hard, be dominant, and throw no-hitters.
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