After no-hitter, what’s next for Chris Heston?
By Tim Haberin
Throwing a no-hitter isn’t a bad way to spend your 13th big league start. Rookie pitcher Chris Heston of the San Francisco Giants surprised the baseball world on Tuesday evening by keeping the Mets hitless in a 5-0 win at Citi Field. He became the first rookie to achieve the feat since the Clay Buchholz in 2007. It was the 17th no-hitter in franchise history and marked the fourth consecutive season in which a Giants pitcher has thrown one. Heston even backed his efforts on the mound by knocking a two-run single at the plate.
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Heston’s wasn’t exactly your garden variety no-hitter: he didn’t walk a batter, but hit three. He struck out 11 Mets and didn’t need to labor too heavily in the process, subduing his foes on a total of 110 pitches. The outing lowered the 27-year-old right-hander’s ERA from 4.29 to 3.77, serving as a definite high point in what has largely been an up-and-down rookie campaign.
What can we take away from Heston’s accomplishment? Is it an early sign of what will soon be a thriving big league career? It’s difficult to say, but the Giants like what they see out of his arm, and this week’s performance will only heighten their optimism.
Heston took a somewhat winding route to Major League Baseball. He played two years at a community college before being drafted by the Twins in 2007. Heston opted to stay in school. A year later the Nationals selected him, but again Heston declined, choosing instead to attend East Carolina University. His professional career would finally begin when the Giants took him in the 12th round of the 2009 draft.
He certainly doesn’t pop out at you with overpowering, ace-like stuff. His fastball barely hits 90 mph, with enough sinking action that Fangraphs PitchF/X classifies it as a sinker. Heston utilizes that sinker as his chief weapon, along with a curveball and changeup. The relatively simple repertoire has worked rather well for him in 2015. Opponents are batting .270 against the sinker and .188 off the curve, his two most frequently thrown pitches.
San Francisco Giants
Heston’s rise through the minor leagues wasn’t exactly meteoric. He enjoyed a great 2012 season at Double-A Richmond (2.24 ERA) before struggling the following year at Triple-A Fresno (5.80). He performed much better in his second go-around at Triple-A in 2014, posting a 3.38 ERA and notching 12 wins before making three September appearances with the Giants. Heston received a call-up in early April of this year to replace an injured Matt Cain.
His outings this season have been a mixed bag, but the good might be starting to outweigh the bad. Heston actually began 2015 on very fine footing. Over his first three starts, he threw 20.2 innings, allowing just two earned runs. From there he’s been very much hit-or-miss, tossing four quality starts out of his next nine. He surrendered double-digit hits in two appearances, and failed to complete more than two innings in another. Heston wasn’t too far away from no-hit heroics on May 12, however, allowing only two hits (though one was a solo homer) in a complete game against Houston.
A no-hitter or even a perfect game isn’t exactly a surefire pass to a memorable big league career. Just ask Philip Humber. Fortunately for Chris Heston, there are a variety of reasons to feel good about his chances. He won’t blow hitters away, but he seems to have a solid command of the strike zone (3.67 K/BB ratio) and a decent handle on how to maximize his arsenal.
The impending returns of Matt Cain and Jake Peavy could complicate matters, but it’s hard to see San Francisco demoting Heston if he keeps pitching well. The rookie will hope his historic night acts a springboard into a secure rotation spot and future success.