Several of MLB’s most recognizable pitchers of the millennium have achieved one of the sport’s most impressive single-game accomplishments in a no-hitter, but the class is far from exclusive.
Though it’s no secret that offense isn’t quite what it was at the turn of the century in today’s MLB, the 2025 season did pose one notable anomaly in that regard – the first season without a no-hitter since 2005.
Long regarded as one of the sport’s grand single-game accomplishments, a no-hitter is when a pitcher or group of pitchers completes a game without surrendering a hit – though walks, errors and other similar plays do not count against one being broken up. Conversely, a perfect game is when a pitcher completes a game without allowing a single baserunner, going 27 up, 27 down.
While the no-hitter is rare, a perfect game is exceptionally seldom in baseball history. Though there have been 326 no-hitters thrown dating back to 1876, only 24 have been perfect games.
The frequency of no-hitters has been more pronounced in the past quarter century, with 78 no-no’s being tossed since the start of the 2001 season, as there weren’t any no-hitters thrown in 2000.
Many of the pitchers who have thrown no-hitters in the past 25 seasons have been among the best the game has seen in that time period – future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander has tossed three no-no’s, while Hall of Famers Randy Johnson and Roy Halladay both nabbed perfect games.
In other instances, no-hitters were thrown by notable pitchers during a time in their career one may not have expected. Josh Beckett made it happen as a Dodger in his final season in 2014, while fellow postseason hero Jon Lester tossed a no-hitter in just his third MLB season in 2008.
For several others, however, the no-hitter serves as the highlight in an otherwise fleeting career or an answer to a trivia question rather than something seemingly remembered by all baseball fans.
This can also certainly be said for a few perfect game pitchers, most notably Dallas Braden and Phillip Humber, though this list will focus on just no-hitters as perfect games are always notable and significant enough to be widely remembered to a large extent.
Though it’s already been over a year since the most recent MLB no-hitter, here’s a look back at three across the past quarter-century you may have forgotten about:
1. Bud Smith, Sept. 3, 2001: St. Louis Cardinals 4, San Diego Padres 0
Debuting in June 2001 for the St. Louis Cardinals, 21-year-old lefty Bud Smith got off to a solid start to his rookie season, with this performance in early September solidifying himself as one of the top rookies in the National League.
Smith faced a San Diego lineup that while unremarkable, was certainly nothing to sneeze at. The Padres boasted an especially potent 3-4 in their 2001 lineup with Ryan Klesko and Phil Nevin, both of whom were neutralized by Smith along with the rest of the Friars on this Labor Day evening.
The young southpaw struck out seven hitters while surrendering four walks, only allowing a runner to reach scoring position twice – once on a Rickey Henderson stolen base and again in the ninth inning via defensive indifference.
Smith’s 134-pitch masterpiece ended up serving as the definitive highlight of his very short MLB career, with the lefty only appearing in 15 more MLB games after his no-hitter. Though Smith finished fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2001 after a 3.83 ERA across 14 starts and 84.2 innings, his 2002 season was a disaster.
The 22-year-old managed a 6.94 ERA across 11 games and 10 starts in his sophomore campaign, posting as many walks as strikeouts before playing his final MLB game in July 2002. Smith stuck around in professional baseball until the 2007 season, but finished his MLB career with 27 regular season games and 24 starts, as well as a win in his lone postseason start and appearance.
2. Chris Heston, June 9, 2015: San Francisco Giants 5, New York Mets 0
In another instance of a previously unknown rookie dazzling for an evening, Giants righty Chris Heston stymied the eventual NL champion Mets on a Tuesday night in June, providing what went on to be the highlight of his career.
While every no-hitter is wildly impressive by default, there’s also a mind boggling amount of ways to finish the job – with Heston’s no-no being pretty unique in its own right. Heston piled up 11 strikeouts that evening and didn’t walk a single batter, though three Mets were able to reach throughout the evening all on hit by pitch.
Those went on to be the only blemishes of the evening for Heston, with a rock solid Giants defense behind him not yielding any errors as it took the rookie 110 pitches to finish the job.
Though Heston had a very solid rookie campaign in 2015, going 12-11 with a 3.95 ERA across 31 starts and 177.2 innings, his work that season went on to comprise the vast majority of his MLB playing time. Heston appeared in parts of four MLB seasons from 2014 to 2017, though he only made 10 other appearances and two starts outside of his 2015 season.
The righty, who was 27 at the time of his no-hitter, played four games for the Giants in 2016 before appearing in three games the following season – twice with the Seattle Mariners and once for the Minnesota Twins. Heston made his final MLB appearance on June 11, 2017, and last played professional baseball in 2018.
3. Alec Mills, Sept. 13, 2020: Chicago Cubs 12, Milwaukee Brewers 0
The 60-game pandemic-shortened 2020 season still feels like a fever dream five years later, with plenty of oddities teams had to combat both on and off the field to look back on.
Though there may not have been any no-hitters in 2025, there were two in the brief 2020 season, among them being a remarkable gem tossed by Cubs’ back-of-rotation starter Alec Mills, who was in his third season with the team but his first as a regular starter.
Mills put on the show of his career in front of cardboard cut-outs with the roof closed at then-Miller Park, walking just three batters while striking out five en route to the Cubs’ first no-hitter since Jake Arrieta’s second of his career in April 2016.
Though the 2020 Brewers didn’t exactly boast murderers’ row in their lineup, Mills effectively neutralized the power bats in the lineup, including Jedd Gyorko, Daniel Vogelback and former league MVP Christian Yelich.
The Cubs righty was also quite efficient throughout the game, throwing 114 pitches to finish the job while never allowing a Milwaukee baserunner to reach scoring position. An offensive explosion from the Cubs helped take the pressure of the game’s outcome away from Mills, who tossed the 305th no-hitter in MLB history.
Mills finished 2020 with a 5-5 record and 4.48 ERA across 11 starts in what ended up being among the highlights of his career, with the righty scuffling quite a bit in 2021 with the North Siders. Mills posted a 5.07 ERA in 32 games and 20 starts in 2021, and struggled even more across seven games and two starts with the 2022 Cubs.
Mills made his most recent MLB appearance on July 1, 2023, his lone game as a member of the Cincinnati Reds.
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