MLB Prospects: This Weekend's No-Hitter and Near Misses Throughout Minors

The start of Class-A Short Season and Rookie-level action has seemingly ushered in a slew of top-notch pitching performances by some of baseball’s finest young arms, and it was especially noticeable this past weekend.

While right-hander Aaron Northcraft of High-A Lynchburg (Atlanta Braves) was the only pitcher to fire a no-hitter, the amount of foiled no-hit bids and combined one-hitters throughout the minor leagues was both unprecedented and spectacular.

Pitchers at every level turned in dominant outings, some more impressive than others, and set the stage for what should be an exciting second half of the minor league season.

Here is a look at all of the top pitching performances form this weekend.

Justin Wilson, LHP, Pittsburgh Pirates (Triple-A)

On Friday night, Pittsburgh Pirates left-handed pitching prospect Justin Wilson lost a no-hit bid with two outs in the sixth inning. After walking a pair of hitters with two outs, the 24-year-old surrendered a seeing-eye, RBI single back up the middle to Ronnier Mustelier to end the no-hit effort and spoil the shutout.

Wilson finished the game with three walks and eight strikeouts over six innings and surrendered one run on one hit for the second straight outing.

In 15 starts for Triple-A Indianapolis this season, Wilson is 5-4 with a 3.46 ERA, .196 BAA and 81 K/39 BB over 80.2 innings. Furthermore, he’s allowed just six hits and two runs in his last 19 innings.

David Hurlbut, Tim Atherton and Corey Williams, Minnesota Twins (Low-A)

David Hurlbut and two relievers for Class-A Beloit combined for a one-hitter on Friday night against Cedar Rapids. Making his third start of the season after 10 appearances out of the bullpen, Hulburt, a left-hander, yielded one hit, walked three and fanned four over seven innings.

Relievers Tim Atherton and Corey Williams each worked a frame in relief to seal the one-hitter.

A 28th-round draft pick in 2011, the 22-year-old is now 3-0 with a 2.00 ERA and 31 strikeouts over 36 innings. 

Aaron Northcraft, Atlanta Braves (High-A)

While there were plenty of foiled no-hit bids this weekend, right-hander Aaron Northcraft of the Lynchburg Hillcats (High-A) was the only pitcher to accomplish the feat, firing a seven-inning no-hitter against the Salem Red Sox on Friday.

A 10th-round selection in the 2009 draft, Northcraft walked two, hit a batter and had a runner reach base on an infield error. Overall, he fanned 10 and induced eight ground-ball outs thanks to a power sinker that he was locating down in the zone throughout the entire game.

Northcraft is now 7-4 this season with a 3.38 ERA and .234 BAA and has registered 78 K/35 BB in 14 starts spanning 80 innings.

The no-no was the first in Lynchburg history.

Noah Syndergaard, Toronto Blue Jays (Low-A)

One of several high-upside Blue Jays pitching prospects at Low-A Lansing, Syndergaard has been up and down this season, especially as of late. On May 23, the right-hander allowed six earned runs in 3.2 innings, and two starts later, on June 2, he couldn’t even escape the first innings, yielding six runs on five hits.

However, he’s seemingly turned things around over his last two starts. On June 13, Syndergaard fired four scoreless frames of three-hit ball while fanning six and walking two. On Friday, he built upon the previous success, allowing only one hit with seven strikeouts over five innings—his best start of the 2012 season.

The hard-throwing right-hander has appeared in 15 games for Lansing this season, eight of which he started. Overall, he’s 3-2, with a 3.51 ERA, .238 BAA and 64 K/15 BB in 48.2 innings.

Ariel Pena, Caleb Grahm and Kevin Johnson, Los Angeles Angles (Double-A)

Ariel Pena and two Arkansas Travelers relievers tossed a combined one-hitter in a 4-0 win on Saturday over Northwest Arkansas. In his first season at Double-A, Pena was recently named a Texas League Midseason All-Star.

Featuring two plus pitches in his fastball and slider, the right-hander allowed the Northwest Arkansas’ lone hit in the second innings before retiring 12 of the final 13 batters he faced. Overall, he struck out seven and walked two batters over six outstanding innings.

Caleb Graham replaced Pena and fired a perfect seventh and eighth inning before Kevin Johnson sealed the shutout with a flawless ninth.

In 15 starts this season, Pena is 5-4 with 2.94 ERA, .228 BAA and 86 K/34 BB over 88.2 innings.

Seon Gi Kim, Seattle Mariners (Class-A Short Season)

After a disappointing 2011 campaign that featured a series of demotions following bouts of extreme ineffectiveness, Seon Gi Kim has been impressive to begin the season.

In the backend of a doubleheader on Saturday, Kim recorded 13 strikeouts over six no-hit innings as short season Everett defeated Spokane, 2-0.

Kim, 20, allowed only two base-runners in the game—one came on a fourth-inning infield error and the other from a walk in the fifth—and finished the game with 93 pitches.

In two starts for short season Everett spanning 12 innings, Kim has allowed one run on four hits while posting a 16 K/2 BB mark.

Ethan Stewart, Philadelphia Phillies (Low-A)

Ethan Stewart turned his fourth straight quality outing on Sunday, as the left-hander out-dueled Alex Meyer—the Washington Nationals’ top pitching prospect—and allowed only one hit over six innings.

A 47th-round selection out of New Mexico Junior College in 2010, Stewart has won each of his last four starts, allowing five earned runs on 10 hits while registering 13 K/11 BB over 24 innings.

Kyle Crick and Adalbert Mejia, San Francisco Giants (Low-A)

Kyle Crick continued his dominant month on Saturday as the right-hander scattered two hits over six innings while notching eight strikeouts. The 19-year-old has now made three starts in June, allowing a single earned run, five hits and 22 strikeouts over 18 innings.

The 47th-overall selection in the 2011 draft, Crick is 3-4 in 12 starts for Low-A Augusta with a 2.79 ERA, .190 BAA and 73 K/34 BB in 58 innings.

Not to be outdone, Dominican left-hander Adalbert Mejia fired six no-hit innings on Sunday, a 2-1 win in the series finale against Savannah. Even more impressive is the fact that it was just Mejia’s fourth start of the season after making 14 appearances out of the GreenJackets’ bullpen. He fanned five while walking only two batters.

In 43.2 innings this season, he owns a 5-4 record, 4.95 ERA, .283 BAA and 35 K/16 BB.

Kyle Smith, Kansas City Royals (Low-A)

The Royals’ fourth-round draft pick in 2011, Smith made a stylish Midwest League debut on Sunday, pitching six hitless innings for Low-A Kane County in their 4-3 win over Clinton.

The 19-year-old was exceptionally stingy, allowing a one-out walk in the first inning before retiring the final 16 batters. He finished the game with six strikeouts.

After turning in a five-inning, 11-strikeout performance in his professional debut in the Pioneer League in which he allowed one run on three hits, the right-hander was lights-out once again in his second start of the 2012 season.

Cory Jones, Michael Aldrete, Jeff Rauh and Ronnie Shaba, STL Cardinals (Rookie)

Only one out away from making history, Johnson City (Appalachian League) nearly completed a combined no-hitter using four pitchers in their 4-2 win over the Bluefield Blue Jays.

6'5" right-hander Cory Jones—the Cardinals’ fifth-round pick in the 2012 first-year player draft—made his professional debut, hurling three no-hit innings that included five strikeouts, two walks and a hit batter.

Michael Aldrete, the game’s winning pitcher, followed with three more hitless frames as he fanned three and walked one.

Then came Jeffrey Rauh, who added two no-hit frames of his own while walking two with one strikeout.

Ronald Shaban came in to close out the combined no-no and was one pitch away from closing the door. However, his 1-and-2 offering with two outs in the ninth was called a ball, much to the disagreement of everyone in attendance. As it always seems to go, the next pitch was smoked back up the middle for a single. The next batter followed with a two-out RBI double to erase the shutout before Shaban recorded a strikeout for the game’s final out.