The Cubs Didn't Strike Out at All Tuesday Night. How Rare is That Feat?

There was nothing that signaled this could be a possibility. Often, in baseball, that's the case. In Tuesday's 9-0 win over Pittsburgh, the Cubs became the first team in exactly one year to go a complete game without having a batter strike out.

Chicago sits in the middle of the pack in terms of strikeouts per game. The team entered play Wednesday tied at No. 14 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, at 8.1 strikeouts per contest.

Last year, the Cubs finished 13th in that category. The year prior to that? Chicago was 14th.

There are new faces to the lineup this year, and the Cubs offense has been rolling. They've been the catalyst for why the team has not only been able to tread water during this daunting schedule in April, but flourished and taken a lead in the division. Their latest feat might be the most impressive.

Tuesday's starter for Pittsburgh was Andrew Heaney, a journeyman lefty playing on his sixth team in his 12th year. Entering the game against Chicago, Heaney had pitched 16 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball. Early on, while he wasn't registering strikeouts, he was effective. The veteran lefty extended his scoreless streak to a career-high 20 innings—before Cubs catcher Carson Kelly put one on a tee and deposited it into the seats for a two-run home run. The wheels came off for him after that.

Nothing in Heaney's season to date indicated he would exit with zero strikeouts—and hand the baton to what would end up being five other relievers that also couldn't get a punchie. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Heaney had five starts before facing off against Chicago. In four of those, he allowed one or fewer runs.

The crafty left-handed starter struck out 10 Yankees back on April 6. He followed that up with six strikeouts against the Reds. In his most recent start, against the Angels, Heaney allowed one hit in six innings and finished with nine strikeouts. Heaney's strikeout percentage of 22.3% is slightly lower than his career average of 24.9%, but it's nothing glaring. In fact, it's still higher than the Cubs' collective starter strikeout rate last year (21.1%).

The Cubs offense has been rolling. So had been Heaney.

It's impossible to predict what the Cubs accomplished on Tuesday. If we want to stretch it out and find ways in which Chicago was a prime candidate, though, there were a couple of indicators.

Craig Counsell's club is tied for the lowest whiff percentage in baseball, according to Baseball Savant. They're tied for the seventh-best mark in terms of chasing outside the zone. When the Cubs do chase, they make contact at the third-highest rate in baseball, at 59.2%. They also lead baseball in runs per game, at 6.0 per game. While the runs per game aren't a direct correlation to strikeouts, it further illustrates that this offense has been in quite the zone for most of the season.

The history behind not striking out once in a single game is more rare than you would think. It happened just once last year, and oddly enough, it was done by the Dodgers on April 29. One year later, it was the Cubs doing it on April 29.

There was an outlier year in 2023 wherein it occurred four times and was achieved by four different teams, per StatMuse. Before those four, it hadn't happened in six years.

For the Cubs, it was the first time they checked the box since Jul. 3, 2013. On that day, the Cubs defeated the Oakland Athletics 3-1. Bartolo Colón was the starting pitcher for the A's. Colón went seven innings in that game, allowing nine hits and two runs.

We don't know when it will happen again. It could be the only time this year, or for the next few, that a team manages this. For all the good the Cubs offense has provided this year, this was one hell of a bow to put on April.