Every morning, the We Love Baseball crew reviews the Nastiest Pitches from the previous day’s games in glorious high-definition GIFs. We want to bring you the highest caliber of nastiness possible, so if you see a nasty pitch, please tell us about it. You can tweet @PitcherList to let us know and we’ll give you a shout-out here in the article if your tip makes the cut.
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Clayton Kershaw’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/politicalsinfuladmiralbutterfly
Clayton Kershaw finally got the monkey off his back, throwing eight stellar innings while striking out 13 batters and only allowing four hitters on base. This nasty curveball that freezes Orlando Arcia dead in his tracks is really nice, but the slider and its 56% CSW was the star of the show in this one. The Dodgers are moving onto the Divisional round and Kershaw is locked and loaded for a World Series run.
Luis Castillo’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/messyflashygrouper
Luis Castillo was a tough-luck loser on Thursday, giving up one run and striking out seven over 5.1 innings of work. Cincinnati didn’t post a single run in 22 innings of baseball this postseason and their starting pitchers deserved much better than what they got. This disgusting sinker that paints the corner against Ronald Acuña Jr. was completely unhittable. Castillo had numerous sinkers with nasty movement but this one was easily the best of the bunch.
Brandon Woodruff’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/lankyfaithfulbedbug
Brandon Woodruff was dealing through four innings, striking out eight and looking equally as dominant as Kershaw. Unfortunately for Milwaukee and their fans, he unraveled in the fifth as three runs crossed the plate before he got pulled. There were enough good things in this outing that Woodruff should be able to build on it and improve as the ace of the 2021 Milwaukee Brewers rotation.
Aaron Bummer’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/ultimateinsistentcaribou
Aaron Bummer entered the game in the bottom of the second after Dane Dunning was pulled too quickly and Garrett Crochet left with a worrisome arm injury. Chicago lost on Thursday due to mismanagement of their bullpen and it’s unfortunate because they have numerous young hurlers with some nasty stuff. This slider from Bummer was filthy enough to catch Tommy La Stella in check-swing mode for the strikeout in this at bad, but La Stella would have the last laugh as he went on to score two runs later in the A’s clinching game. Chicago is a fun young team and hopefully they can carry over their success into 2021.
Luis Castillo’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/generalbareibisbill
It’s another Luis Castillo pitch here because of course it is. This changeup, while not spotted in his usual low-and-inside real estate, is still nasty enough to elicit a flailing whiff from Marcell Ozuna for the strikeout.
Will Smith’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/welldocumentedoccasionalarrowana
This filthy slider from Will Smith forced Jesse Winker to bend the knee and acknowledge that he got got in this at-bat. Coming into a 1-0 game after Ian Anderson’s stellar six innings, Smith pitched an efficient and clean inning by striking out two on only 16 pitches. This Braves team is fun and they’re locked and loaded for the Divisional round.
Ian Anderson’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/rashfittingleopardseal
Speaking of Anderson, here’s a nasty changeup that fell out of the zone for a strikeout against Mike Moustakas in the fourth inning. Ian Anderson’s playoff debut was a rousing success, allowing only four baserunners in six innings while striking out nine. He had a 36% CSW overall and had Reds hitters guessing all day long. He’s the ace of this staff right now and he’s certainly living up to all of his prospect hype.
Frankie Montas‘ Sinker
https://gfycat.com/demandinglittleantbear
Frankie Montas pitcher two innings in relief on Thursday, giving up one run but earning the win as Oakland scored all six of their runs while he was on the mound. He wasn’t stellar but he was effective, and this sinker to end the fourth inning against MVP candidate José Abreu was straight up filthy.