The last ten days of the 2023 MLB season have been hectic. The first day of the month entailed the Trade Deadline, as we watched familiar faces put on jerseys we would never expect.
The Phillies got in on the trading action, reinforcing their already stacked pitching staff by trading for the first-time All-Star from the Detroit Tigers.
The day after the trading dust settled, Houston Astros pitcher Framber Valdez hurled one of the best no-hitters in history, throwing only 93 pitches through nine innings of work.
Nine days after being traded, Michael Lorenzen pitched the 14th no-hitter in franchise history in his home debut.
“I’ve always wanted to throw a no-hitter,” he said in his postgame interview.
Lorenzen had his Mother, Wife, and Daughter in the crowd during his home debut. He struck out five and walked four while not allowing a single member of the Washington Nationals to get a hit.
It took him 124 pitches, the most by a single pitcher all season. He passed Griffin Canning, the righty from the Los Angeles Angels threw 120 pitches in 5 ⅔ innings.
Lorenzen debuted for the Cincinnati Reds in 2015, spending six years at Great American Ball Park. After starting 21 games for the Reds, he became a full-time reliever while doing his best Shohei Ohtani imitation. Lorenzen would pinch-hit and even play full games in the outfield. He has a career average of .238 with seven home runs. He made six starts in the outfield for the Reds in 2019.
Rule changes and injury designations left that dream in the past for Lorenzen. While looking for a full-time starting role after he became a free agent, he saw the best two-way player in history and joined forces, spending a year with the Angles in 2022. He then signed with Detroit and was selected to be the sole representation of the Tigers in the 2023 All-Star Game.
Lorenzen proved what he had in the first half of the 2023 season, and earned a spot in a top-five pitching staff in the NL. The Phillies pitching staff is top-five in opponents average, walks/hits per innings pitched, and ERA.
In Lorenzen’s first start for the Phillies, he went eight strong letting up two runs on six hits with five strikeouts against Miami.
In his second appearance for the Phillies, suited in the home white pinstripes, Lorenzen wore white Vans the night he achieved his boyhood dream. The cleats he wore on Wednesday night make their own bit of history, becoming the first pair of Vans in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
After not being allowed a secure spot in the Reds’ pitching staff, Lorenzen proved that he deserves to be on a competing team as the Phillies begin their final playoff push.
