The 2021 baseball season hasn’t been particularly pretty or artistic in any way, but it sure has been memorable. First and foremost, the games are being played, largely on schedule as the COVID-19 pandemic has wound down.

Offense is down due to a variety of factors including the baseball itself and the weather, but most of all due to the ongoing bat-missing demonstration being orchestrated by major league pitchers. Exhibit A to that end has been the proliferation of the no-hitter. Never before have there been more than seven no-hitters in a major league season. Well, about a third of the way through the 2021 campaign, we already have six.

Today, let’s dig a little deeper into those no-no’s and attempt to differentiate them from one another in terms of overall dominance. For all balls in play allowed, we’ll assess the level of production each pitcher “should have” allowed based on their exit speed/launch angle and calculate each pitcher’s game-specific Adjusted Contact Score (100 equals league average, the lower the number the better). Then we’ll add back their Ks and BBs to calculate their game-specific “Tru” ERA-.

Let’s count down these six masterpieces, from least to most dominant.

#6 - RHP Corey Kluber (Yankees) - 63 Adj. Contact Score, 1.83 “Tru” ERA (45) - Kluber struck out nine Rangers and walked one on May 19. He allowed the hardest hit fly ball in these six games, a 105.3 mph, 22 degree launch angle bolt by Adolis Garcia that is almost always a home run. Half of this year’s no-no authors allowed exactly three line drives, and though Kluber’s were hit more softly than Joe Musgrove’s and Carlos Rodon’s, two of them typically would have gone for hits. Kluber also yielded a grounder hit between 105-110 mph - such batted balls go for hits over 34% of the time. He didn’t throw many fastballs (25, 25% of his pitch total). His swing-and-miss rate of 12.9% was second lowest, and only his curve (22.6% whiff rate, 7/31) served as a true swing-and-miss offering. Oh, and he’s on the IL, and will be for an extended period.

#5 - RHP Spencer Turnbull (Tigers) - 45 Adj. Contact Score, 1.61 “Tru” ERA (39) - Turnbull’s Adjusted Contact Score was markedly lower than the #4 finisher on this list, but his “Tru” ERA is higher, in part because he’s the only one of the six hurlers to walk two hitters (he struck out nine). Turnbull and Kluber tied for the highest Adjusted Fly Ball Contact Score (53) allowed. Turnbull yielded a 101.7 mph, 29 degree fly ball to Mitch Haniger on May 18 in Seattle, and also allowed two 95-100 mph fly balls. He was one of only two of the six to allow only one line drive during his no-no. He also allowed the second hardest grounder contact of the six, including a pair of 100+ mph grounders. On the more impressive side, Turnbull’s 14.5% whiff rate was third best, and most notably, he recorded an exceptional 22.4% whiff rate (11/49) on his four-seam fastball. That bodes extremely well for his future.

#4 RHP Joe Musgrove (Padres) - 61 Adj. Contact Score, 1.27 “Tru” ERA (32) - Musgrove whiffed 10 and walked none in the first of the six no-hitters chronologically, on April 9 at the Rangers. There was no authoritative fly ball contact in this game - nothing reaching 90 mph. There were no grounders hit at 100 mph or harder, either. There were three line drives, however, and all of them were hit at 95 mph or harder. The most authoritative of the bunch was a 108.7 mph, 18 degree bolt hit by Nate Lowe to end the 4th inning. His fastball was a total non-factor in the game; between his four-seamer and sinker, he threw only 15 and missed zero bats. His overall whiff rate was 13.7%, fourth among this group, and his slider (23.5%, 8/34) was his primary swing-and-miss pitch. Musgrove’s fastball issues have largely driven his lesser performance since the no-hitter. He actually needed an extended relief outing last weekend to get back in rhythm.

#3 - LHP Carlos Rodon (White Sox) - 40 Adj. Contact Score, 1.19 “Tru” ERA (29) - Rodon’s seven strikeouts were the fewest among our no-hitter authors, but he walked no one at home versus the Indians on April 14. Rodon allowed five fly balls, but all were cans of corn between 75-95 mph. His Adjusted Fly Ball Contact Score of 8 was the lowest among these six hurlers. None of the nine grounders he allowed were hit at 100 mph or higher. He did yield three 100+ mph liners, however - his Adjusted Line Drive Contact Score was a whopping 147. Two were hit by Roberto Perez, but the hardest was a 110.6 mph, 17 degree bolt hit by Jose Ramirez on a 3-1 pitch in the 6th inning. Rodon’s 16.7% whiff rate was the second highest among this group, and like Turnbull, he impressively accomplished this on the back of his four-seam fastball (21.0%, 12/57). The former first overall draft pick gave the Chisox hope that he still could become “that guy”.

#2 - LHP Wade Miley (Reds) - 21 Adj. Contact Score, 0.76 “Tru” ERA (19) - A photo finish for first place between two lefties getting it done in very different ways. Miley struck out eight and walked one on May 7 in Cleveland, which doesn’t stand out among this group. What does stand out is his absolute throttling of contact authority; he is a former Contact Manager of the Year, after all, and his game-specific Adjusted Contact Score is by far the lowest among this group. He allowed only three fly balls, none above 90 mph; his Adjusted Fly Ball Contact Score of 10 is a shade behind Rodon’s. He induced a whopping 15 grounders, by far the most among this group, and none were hit at 100 mph or harder. He allowed only a single line drive, and it was a 104.8 mph rocket off of the bat of Franmil Reyes. Miley’s dominance was totally contact management-based - his 7.0% whiff rate was by far the lowest among this group - his most-used pitch was his cutter, on which he posted a mere 6.7% whiff rate (3/45). Miley is what he is, requiring pinpoint accuracy to succeed. But he is capable of great things when he’s “on”.

#1 - LHP John Means (Orioles) - 41 Adj. Contact Score, 0.70 “Tru” ERA (17) - Just wow. 12 strikeouts, no walks, with the only runner reaching base on a dropped third strike on May 5 in Seattle. He did allow the most liners (4) among this group, but the hardest at only 94.5 mph was hit by Dylan Moore in the 3rd inning. None of the three grounders he allowed reached 90 mph, and none of three fly balls reached 95 mph. He actually allowed more pop ups (5 - the other five allowed 8 among them) than flies, liners or grounders, something that is very hard to do. Toss the pops on top of the strikeouts, and that’s 17 free outs. Means’ overall whiff rate of 22.1% was off of the charts. His changeup whiff rate was an incredible 40% (14/35), and his little-used slider (37.5%, 3/8) was right behind. An 11.7% four-seam whiff rate (7/60) is also quite impressive. This guy is a legit stud, a pitcher who should still be an Oriole when they’re ready to win again.