Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Each week, we send 30 polls to plugged in fans from each team. Red Sox fans, sign up HERE to join Reacts.
It’s no secret that one of the biggest stories in baseball right now is the surge in no-hitters around the league, with seemingly a new pitcher tossing one each and every night. Hell, just this morning Phil tried to predict who on the Red Sox would throw one this year and when. That’s not a normal thing. So it only makes sense that this was the theme of this week’s Reacts poll, along with the weekly confidence poll for the team. Let’s get into it.
Confidence Poll
We have a new high water mark for confidence coming from Red Sox fans this week, with the rating getting all the way up to 82 percent this week. This of course comes before Tuesday’s loss to the Braves, and before the Rays officially took first place. Still, it’s reflective of where things are compared to preseason expectations right now, and even after the loss Boston is still just a half-game out of the division lead. The 82 percent mark is eighth among all fan bases with the Blue Jays and Rays outpacing the Sox in the division.
How many no-hitters this year?
There have already been six official no-hitters this year, which does not count Madison Bumgarner’s seven-inning no-hitter. Whether or not that should count (it should) is a discussion for another day. So at this pace, we should see somewhere in the high teens over a full season. Of course, that assumes this pace continues, which clearly most people do not believe it will. I am with them. I think it’s still most likely that we settle in that lowest range. There are legitimate reasons for all these no-hitters, but they are also fluky and I’m betting on this cluster being fluky as well. Between weather warming up and MLB probably messing with the balls again because that’s what they do, I think we’ll only see a couple more through the whole season.
Why is this happening?
I think there are a few valid reasons, including all of these along with just plain flukiness, but I’m still going dominant hitting. I think that’s the start of everything. I think hitters are going all-out more because it’s so hard to string hits together, and it’s so hard to string hits together because pitching is just so good. I suppose there’s some chicken or egg going on here so I don’t want to discount other factors too much, but I can’t escape everything in baseball right now coming back to pitching just being so far ahead of hitting at the moment,
Do they matter anymore?
Yes. Come on. I’m flabbergasted by all these “no” votes. What in the world?
Is it bad for the game?
This one feels like a trick question to me. In a vacuum, are no-hitters bad? Hell no. No-hitters are dope. They’re fun, they’re exciting. I can’t say they are bad for the game at any number. That said, I think the cluster of them are emblematic of a bad thing for the game, which is again the bats being so far behind the arms. We’re seeing more one- and two-hit games, and those are bad for the game. But no-hitters specifically? I don’t care how many there are. They’re fun moments.