MLB

Even Clayton Kershaw thinks MLB has a no-hitter problem

Baseball has a problem – and even the players that are gaining an advantage acknowledge it.

Already this year, there have been six no-hitters – seven if you count Madison Bumgarner’s unofficial, seven-inning no-no. Yankees right-hander Corey Kluber threw his first no-hitter Wednesday, one day after Spencer Turnbull of the Tigers authored his own.

Offense is way down across the board. And Clayton Kershaw, a three-time Cy Young-winning pitcher, admits the game is suffering.

“No-hitters are cool and I have all the respect in the world for Corey Kluber and [Madison Bumgarner] and all those guys that have thrown no-hitters,” Kershaw said. “But to have one happen every night … it’s probably not good for the game.”

MLB deadened the baseball, and the results have significantly favored pitchers. According to CBS Sports, there are only 1.14 home runs per game, compared to 1.28 last year and 1.39 in 2019, and 24.1 percent of at-bats are ending in a strikeout.

Clayton Kershaw pitches for the Dodgers.
Clayton Kershaw pitches for the Dodgers. Getty Images

“Well, it’s not good. I’ll tell you that. I think whatever the intention was with the new ball or whatever it may be, it really hasn’t done anything,” Kershaw said. “There might be less home runs, which I guess they want, but I don’t know the stats on all that. But I do know that strikeouts are the same. I think I saw some stats for April that it was the worst hitting month in history or something.”