Chicago Cubs: Facts and Stats From Arrieta’s No-Hitter

Chicago Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta made history again Thursday night in Cincinnati and much like any of his dominating performances, there were many facts and stats surrounding his no-hitter.

MLB.com, with the help of Stats, Inc, has composed a list of facts, figures and stats surrounding Jake Arrieta’s no-hitter Thursday night in Cincinnati. Here are few stats that you might not know, as well as why you can make the case that Arrieta is currently the best pitcher in baseball.

1. Jake Arrieta now has 24 consecutive quality starts, the longest active streak in the Majors. In those 24 starts, Arrieta is 20-1 with a microscopic 0.86 ERA. He has thrown 178 innings during that stretch, striking out 173 and walking just 33.
2. The major league record for consecutive quality starts in 26, set by Bob Gibson from 1967-68. The next longest active streak of quality starts is Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg with 8.
3. Arrieta now has 15 wins since his last loss on July 25, 2015, the game in which Cole Hamels no-hit the Cubs. Rick Sutcliffe has the Cubs record with 16 straight wins in 1984-85.
4. This was the 15th no-hitter in Cubs history and Arrieta is just the third Cubs pitcher to throw more than one. He joins Larry Corcoran (who had three in the 1880s) and Ken Holtzman, who had two (1969 and 1971).
5. Arrieta is the fourth Cy Young Award winner to throw a no-hitter in the following season. Clayton Kershaw (2014), Gibson (1971) and Koufax (64) where the only other ones to do that. Kershaw is the only one to repeat as Cy Young winner.
6. After Cole Hamels snapped the Cubs nearly 50-year streak without a no-hit in July, the Reds took over as the longest active streak, having last been no hit on June 23, 1971. The current longest active streak now belongs to A’s, who were last no-hit on July 13, 1991.
7. This was the first no-hitter that David Ross has caught in his career.

Those are just some of the facts surrounding Arrieta’s second career no-hitter and it’s easy to make the claim that he’s the best pitcher in baseball. Many will point to Clayton Kershaw and his three Cy Young awards as a counter argument. But in my eyes, right now, Jake Arrieta is the best pitcher in baseball. He is the reigning NL Cy Young winner and is already on his to repeating that feat. He holds the baseball record for the lowest second half ERA in MLB history, he is closing in on the all-time consecutive quality starts record, and has thrown two no-hitters in a span of 11 starts. So, it’s pretty easy to argue that since the start of last year, he’s the best pitcher in the game.

Will Jake be able to continue this success throughout the season? How many more no-hitters will Jake throw in his career? Will he repeat as Cy Young? Will he have back to back 20 win seasons?

All of those things seem like real possibilities and the season is just beginning. It’s going to be a fun ride.