1st Inning: Ken Rosenthal
Twitter:@ken_rosenthal
Affiliations: Fox Sports, MLB Network
Question One: After the All-Star game you asked Cain as to how the All-Star start compares to the World Series and his Perfect Game: can you think of any pitcher who had a more momentous season than Cain? How would you rank his 2012 achievements?
Ken Rosenthal: Pretty highly, when you look at those individual accomplishments. And pretty highly, when you consider that this also was one of Cain's best statistical seasons. Yet, typical of him, he was more consistently outstanding than jaw-dropping excellent. For all that he did, he finished only sixth in the NL Cy Young voting.
Question Two: Okay, let's accept that Phil Humber's Perfect Game was the most surprising, which was the least surprising perfecto of 2012: Matt Cain's or Felix Hernandez'?
Ken Rosenthal: Hernandez's. I was struck after that game by the number of players who said, "I can't believe Felix hasn't thrown one of these already." He often has no-hit stuff.
Question Three: What do you believe accounts for the recent rise in no-hitters, beyond the absence of steroids, in recent years?
Ken Rosenthal: And the absence of amphetamines, which might play an even bigger role? I'm not sure how to answer this, but one thing that strikes me is that hitters today have much more of an all-or-nothing approach. I'm not sure the numbers would bear this out, but it seems that approach might contribute to the increased numbers of no-hitters.