Which pitcher will throw MLB's next no-hitter? Predicting who will make history in 2026

Within the last week, a few aces have had close calls with no-hitters. On Friday, Jacob Misiorowski threw what might prove to be the best game of the season when he allowed just one hit in a 95-pitch shutout with 15 strikeouts. A day later, Yoshinobu Yamamoto took a perfect game into the eighth inning and a no-hitter into the ninth. 

Those brushes with immortality raised an obvious question: Who might be next? 

First off, we're throwing out the stupid combined no-hitter due to personal objections. I just can't deal with acting like it's as impressive. This means the last real no-hitter came on Aug. 2, 2024, when Blake Snell pulled it off against the Reds. It's quite a drought, especially given that the league batting average is just .243. Of course, getting through nine innings is pretty damn tough these days. There have only been nine complete games in 2026, and no pitcher has more than one.

Still, it's possible, which means we get to dream. Let's try to figure out the best candidates to throw a no-hitter.  

The easy-and-obvious tier

It isn't always an ace, but aces pull off no-hitters more often than non-aces for obvious reasons. Nolan Ryan had seven. Sandy Koufax had four. More recently, Justin Verlander has three no-hitters, while Max Scherzer has a pair.

Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers - I mean, c'mon. He's ridiculous. Becoming efficient with his pitch counts puts him on another level. If you had to pick one guy to throw the next no-hitter, here's your pick. 

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers - We've seen how strong he can be in pressure situations in the playoffs, notably as World Series MVP. He's really locked in right now, as Yamamoto has a 1.01 ERA in his last five starts. He's completed the eighth inning in each of his last two starts, too, so the getting-deep-into-games component is certainly there.

Cristopher Sánchez, Phillies - We've already seen him go an entire calendar month without allowing a run and he threw a shutout in there. He allowed six hits in that one, but his skill and ability to work deep into games say a no-no is on the table. He's been relatively close before: in 2024, Sánchez threw a three-hit shutout and also had a complete game with just two hits allowed. Also a good sign: Sánchez has the highest groundball rate in the majors at 56.8% (the league average is 41.4%). 

Tarik Skubal, Tigers - We don't need to bother with his credentials. He'll need another start or two after coming back from elbow surgery, but Skubal is very obviously the type of pitcher who can pull off a no-hitter. How close has he come? On May 25 last season, he threw a two-hit shutout. That is, however, the only complete game of his career.

Paul Skenes, Pirates - The 2025 National League Cy Young winner only has one complete game and recently, he's had issues getting late into games. He hasn't gone more than six innings in his last six starts and he's been up over 100 pitches in each of the last four. Prior to that six-start stretch, however, Skenes went eight innings with just two hits allowed each in back-to-back starts. That's right on the precipice. 

Strong candidates

Maybe these guys aren't quite ace tier (yet), but they have the stuff to pull it off like John Means, Joe Musgrove and Homer Bailey (twice!) did. We'll list them alphabetically here and note we're in non-exhaustive territory, as so many good pitchers could throw a no-hitter. 

Chase Burns, Reds - We'll need to see a lot more efficiency from Burns before kicking him up a tier, but he certainly has the stuff to join the group listed above. He's 8-1 with a 2.01 ERA right now. He's also only finished the seventh inning once and averages roughly 5 ⅔ innings per start. That .192 allowed batting average, though, is tasty. Only Misiorowski (.140) and Yamamoto (.188) are lower. 

Kyle Harrison, Brewers - He's only given up 54 hits in over 65 innings this season and has come into his own as a frontline starter, thriving since being traded to a great Brewers organization. How close has he come? Well, he only gave up two hits in seven scoreless innings on May 20. 

Jesús Luzardo, Phillies - He's inconsistent, but there's a good profile here for a gem in any given start. Luzardo's stuff looks amazing via the eye test. He allows the lowest percentage of hard contact in all of baseball (28.9%), and is 12th in groundball rate and 15th in strikeout rate. This is all a recipe for everything to come together one time, right? He's gone at least seven innings while allowing two or fewer hits six times. He also gave up three hits in eight shutout innings on May 22, 2024.