Indians: Zach Plesac is the unluckiest pitcher in franchise history

Zach Plesac has a rare MLB record attached to his name.

In the history of Major League Baseball, only one pitcher has been on the opposite end of three no-hitters in the same season. That pitcher is Zach Plesac. Not only is three-no hitters a record for the Indians, but it’s even more bizarre that they’ve all come when Plesac was on the mound. Pitchers, save for Shohei Ohtani, have no impact on the offense, so this is a bizarre thing to see happen.

Even more bizarre is how up and down he’s been in all three outings.

The White Sox were the first team to no-hit the Tribe on April 14, and Plesac was awful in the game. He went just two-thirds of an inning pitched, gave up seven hits, six earned runs, and a home run.

The May 7 game against the Reds went much better, and he pitched a gem. Plesac threw eight innings of no-run baseball, giving up only three hits and striking out seven.

The Sep 11 game, however, was a more modest affair. Plesac threw 6.0 innings, gave up four runs with three being earned, on four hits, and two walks, with only three strikeouts to his name.

All in all, Plesac has an ERA of 6.33 in those three games, with 14 hits, 10 strikeouts, and just two walks. A very inconsistent performance.

Zach Plesac isn’t responsible for the no-hitters but it’s still odd

The odds of this happening to Zach Plesac are astronomical. How much? Well, keep in mind the Indians had the same number of no-hitters thrown against them this year alone, as they had from 1990-2020 combined.

The last no-no before 2021 was in 2011 against the Angles’ Ervin Santana. Iconic one-handed pitcher Yankee pitcher, Jim Abbott, dealt the Tribe a no-no in 1993. While in 1990, Blue Jay’s pitcher Dave Stieb threw the other. Prior to that, the Indians had not been hit by a no-no since 1967.

For proper context, the team was terrible during that stretch.

As bad as the Indians’ offense has been as a group, it’s really not a sign of the team, but more the times. There have been eight no-hitters in 2021 alone, while from 2020 to 2010, there were just 41. There may very well be a ninth no-hitter this year. That’s part of the reason why the Major League is cracking down on foreign substances on balls.

It doesn’t completely nullify the Indians for their issues at the plate, but it does put it in a proper context that this is a larger issue than just with the Indians. It could be why the league is proposing a salary floor, to help facilitate better offenses.

The game needs fixing but as long as Rob Manfred is in the driver’s seat, who knows if that’ll happen.

While I support the boys in red, white, and blue, the chaotic part of me is kinda hoping Plesac gets to pitch against another no-hitter, because how often can a player claim that? Let’s fix the game in November, but in September, let’s root for a little more chaos.