Burnett strikes me as a candidate to throw one of the ugliest no-hitters ever ... nine innings, no hits, seven walks, three HBP, two unearned runs, something like that.

Gotta be Burnett or Marcum in my mind based on K's - no one else gets them at close to 1/inning and the less balls you let in play, the better your chances of a no-hitter.  I went with Marcum, purely because he has more of a career (in number of starts) ahead of him.

I'd go with Burnett, also because of the K rates. Halladay's strategy of pitching to contact and getting crap grounders is very effective, but every once in a while one will sneak through for a single. Doc is still the best at getting it done, but I think Burnett would be more likely to throw a no-no. Followed closely by Marcum. Of course, luck has to be involved as well, but that's the case with any no-no.

I had entirely forgotten, until I saw Mick's post, that A.J. Burnett has already thrown one of the ugliest no-hitters ever; you have to love a game in which the pitcher throwing a no-hitter doesn't have a 1-2-3 inning until the 5th.

With any luck, he'll not be seriously injured and be able to throw an even uglier no-hitter for the Jays, though I voted for Marcum myself.

the less balls you let in play, the better your chances of a no-hitter

Not sure I agree with you there, CJF. Burnett may be more likely to throw a 6 or 7 inning no hitter, but Halladay has a good chance to throw a complete game every time he's out there with his efficiency. We've seen Gibbons pull the trigger on a guy with a no hitter through 6, and with Burnett's latest flare-up, I don't see him going the distance anytime soon even if he is throwing a no hitter, unless he learns to be much more economical.

No hitters really just require everything to go right - in Halladay's case, ground balls have to be hit at people, and in Burnett's case, hitters have to be aggressive and not wait him out, letting the walks and Ks run up the pitch count. I don't really think either is much more likely than the other to throw a no-hitter - they're pitchers of comparable skill.

Kinda reminds me of the 2 guys who've done it this year, actually.

Other: Brett Cecil, 2013.  The name was picked out of a hat, but my best guess is that it is someone who has not yet pitched an inning with the organization.

I tossed in Towers due to the fact it is about the only way he'd be allowed to pitch past the 4th inning - and even then it isn't a lock (was going to put a :) here but sadly I think it is true). Plus quite often these things come out of nowhere with the notable exceptions of Nolan Ryan and Dave Stieb (he had to get it eventually).

I voted 'other' simply because it's my practice to bet on the field when it comes to questions like this.

Dustin McGowan, 2008.

McGowan will throw a no-hitter and the Jays will lose by a score of 2-0.

Burnett strikes me as a candidate to throw one of the ugliest no-hitters ever ... nine innings, no hits, seven walks, three HBP, two unearned runs, something like that.

He's got some work to do if he wants to top this gem:

PITCHING

Florida Marlins       IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR
Burnett W(1-1)         9     0   0   0   9   7   0
WP: Burnett (1).
HBP: Burnett (1,Jackson).

Unless we want to dredge up Joe Cowley''s classic...

You wanna see an ugly no-hitter? Check out this article on Steve Dalkowski, courtesy of THT. One time, he threw an 18 K, 18 BB no hitter in high school. It's a fascinating article, actually, I'd recommend reading it for more than just the ugly no hitter.

Not that he got the no-hitter, but I'm impressed that the majority thought that McGowan would be the next (after digging up the poll from a couple weeks ago).  Halladay seemed like the easy choice to me.