Immaculate Inning in Baseball: Definition, Rarity, and Famous Examples

By Oliver Wiener August 25, 2024 20:44

Photo by Getty

An immaculate inning is when a pitcher strikes out all possible three outs in a half-inning with just nine pitches. Typically, that means throwing nothing but strikes in the inning and striking out three batters with only nine total pitches. That immaculate word is an even better representation of the pitch, a pure distillation of pitching efficiency and dominance.

A perfect inning involves a pitcher throwing three strikes on each side, consecutively for every batter they face during that inning. These can be called baseball strikes, swinging bat strikes, or fouls, counted as a shot unless it is the third strike. But putting a ball in play, even for an out, would mean it isn't perfect.

Immaculate Innings are Few and Far Between

Immaculate innings are not nearly as rare a perfect game, but they remain an unusually impressive accomplishment in baseball. Through July 2024, there have been 115 immaculate innings in Major League Baseball (MLB). For a little context, there have been almost 300 no-hitters thrown in MLB history.

The interesting part is that in recent years, there has been a rise in the number of immaculate innings. The 2010s saw an astounding 37 immaculate innings, more than double any other decade. This trend has continued to the 2020s, with an extended sixteen innings of perfecting recorded during this decade's very young first half.

Several Factors at Play

Batting Trend: The increased emphasis on hitting home runs and power has led batters to reduce their swing volume, leading to more strikeouts.

Better Pitching Mechanics and Areparation: As you know, pitchers are capable of pinpoint accuracy as well as the ability to throw harder than ever in history.

More Records and Recognition: Previously, if a pitchers produced immaculate innings, many would not have been officially recognized as such.

Nevertheless, an immaculate inning remains a rare and impressive feat. Although the rarity of this feat does not have any statistics attached to it at a college or high school level, you can still theorize that occurrence is even lower in these levels due to pitchers generally having less skill across the board than their professional counterparts.

Immaculate Inning Examples

The immaculate inning is a rare achievement throughout baseball history for notable pitchers around the globe. Some of the most famous examples are:

Sandy Koufax

One of the greatest pitchers to ever do it, Los Angeles Dodgers legend Sandy Koufax is one of only three pitchers in baseball history with at least three immaculate innings. His clean frames came on

1962 vs. New York Mets
1963 at Houston
1964 vs. Cincinnati Reds

Nolan Ryan

Nolan Ryan, the Hall of Fame flame-thrower with seven no-hitters to his credit, pitched for the New York Mets when he tossed his initial immaculate inning on April 19, 1968. This was the beginning of his many bats and why he dominated most of his 27 years in Major League Baseball.

Max Scherzer

Max Scherzer's 3rd Immaculate Inning was on Sept. 12, 2021, at San Diego. That performance put him with Sandy Koufax & Chris Sale for the most immaculate innings in MLB history. In this inning, Scherzer feasted on Fernando Tatis Jr., Eric Hosmer, and Tommy Pham, three hitters with solid resumes.

Chris Sale

Chris Sale joins Steve Carlton and Lefty Grove as two-time immaculate inning throwers in a single season. Sale pulled off this impressive feat twice in a single season, giving you an idea of how great he was in 2017.

Michael Kopech

The last Perfect inning in MLB came on July 10, 2024, from Michael Kopech of the Chicago White Sox at the Minnesota Twins. In the ninth, Kopech mowed down Brooks Lee on strikes over a changeup in the dirt to open things off before he did likewise by Matt Wallner and Max Kepler.

Why Immaculate Innings Matter

It's not like an immaculate inning will have the same game-changing effect as a no-hitter or perfect game, but it's still essentially 90 seconds of pitching perfection. It highlights a pitcher's ability to get it in the strike zone and then blow hitters away for one inning.

An immaculate inning is still one of baseball's more impressive and underappreciated feats. As the game changes, with strikeouts up and many pitchers striking out more batters than ever in their careers, perfect innings will be as common as the pace that continues to evolve. But their scarcity and the difficulty it takes to accomplish them means we'll always remember each of these immaculate innings as one of baseball's greatest moments.