In one of my first recaps of the year, after a 10-1 loss the the Blue Jays at home, I heavily questioned whether Mike Fiers could survive a full season throwing a 90 mph fastball. In retrospect, that wasn’t a great take. Plenty of pitchers — like another one of tonight’s standouts, Yusmeiro Petit — get by and even have success despite a softer arsenal. It really was just a matter of time before Fiers would keep more of his flyballs in the park.
And that’s exactly what happened. Carrying a 15.7% HR/FB rate leading up to his no-hitter, Fiers has only allowed 8.