Jake Arrieta Tosses Second Career No-Hitter

Jake Arrieta has done it again. 

The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner threw the first no-hitter of the 2016 MLB season and his second career no-hitter. This time Arrieta no-hit the Cincinnati Reds en route to a massive 16-0 victory for the Chicago Cubs. Six of the Cubs runs were driven in by Kris Bryant who homered twice in the game.

Arrieta threw his first no-hitter last August against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Interestingly, both no-hitters have come away from the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. In fact, Arrieta was on the wrong end of a no-hitter at Wrigley when Cole Hamels tossed one in his final appearance with the Philadelphia Phillies last July. In fact, it's Arrieta's only loss since the 2015 All-Star Break 

Arrieta is one of five active pitchers to have two no-hitters to his credit. The others are Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals who threw both of his no-hitters in 2015, Reds pitcher Homer Bailey, Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers and free agent pitcher Tim Lincecum. 

After winning 22 games for the Cubs in 2015, Arrieta has picked right where he left off. His no-hitter puts Arrieta at 4-0 with a microscopic 0.87 ERA in this young season. The no-hitter also gives the Cubs the best record in MLB with a 12-4 mark so far in April. 

There are only three pitchers in MLB history who have thrown three or more no-hitters - Bob Feller had three, Sandy Koufax had four and Nolan Ryan had seven. All Hall of Famers. I wouldn't be surprised if they soon have company. There's a very good chance that it will be Arrieta that joins this very exclusive club. Not bad for a guy who the Orioles couldn't wait to get rid off three years ago.