With All These Newfangled Stats, Should We Take No-Hitters Less Seriously?
By Ty Duffy

The no-hitter is still an awesome spectacle. Being able to feel the pressure and nervous ballpark energy mount but, with our collective downgrading of dependent stats – wins, saves, RBI – and a better understanding of the walk, it’s time to downgrade the achievement in baseball relevance. It’s fluky like the cycle more than it is the pinnacle of pitching achievement.
Liriano’s no-hitter was a great moment, but it wasn’t a respite from his worrisome start to the season. It was a logical continuation of it just, for one night, the 20 balls put into play off him did not fall for hits.
[Photo via Getty]