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.
As a bonus for PL+ members, let us know about a pitch on the PL+ Discord in the Nasty Pitches Channel, and if your suggestion is included the next day, you’ll be entered into a weekly drawing for a free T-shirt!
Dan Straily’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/allfamiliarferret
WILDCARD! Baseball is a global sport and we’re all-inclusive here; I don’t care if a pitch is thrown in Toronto or Timbuktu – if it’s nasty, it’s getting included. This pitch technically occurred on 10/18 but it is stupid good and Dan Straily is a friend of the site, so he’s getting the lead today. This changeup is absolutely disgusting and batter Choi Jeong-won had zero chance at making contact. Straily has been phenomenal in the KBO this season, earning a 2.61 ERA in 182.2 IP prior to today’s game. There will certainly be plenty of MLB teams interested in the right-hander over the off-season, and if he chooses to come back to the States then this writer certainly hopes he’ll end up in Boston for selfish reasons.
Lance McCullers’ Sinker
https://gfycat.com/gorgeoustangiblegermanshorthairedpointer
Lance McCullers only lasted 3.2 innings in this one, and despite earning the loss he did have some pretty filthy stuff at times. His sinker had 6/14 CSW and this one to Willy Adames had some incredible movement on it. This isn’t the last of McCullers in today’s edition of Nastiest Pitches.
Charlie Morton’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/embarrassedfoolhardygavial
Pitching opposite McCullers was Charlie Morton, who cruised through 5.2 innings on only 66 pitches. He was pulled with two men on in the 6th inning in what was a questionable move at the time, but it all worked out as the Rays clinched a trip to the World Series on the back of their ace. Morton’s sinker had a 7/20 CSW tonight and, like McCullers’ pitch above, was disgusting and completely unfair to the hitter.
Walker Buehler’s Knuckle-Curve
https://gfycat.com/tidyangeliclemming
Walker Buehler struck out six over six innings on Saturday, earning the win as the Dodgers forced a Game 7 to be played on Sunday night. This was interestingly the only called strike or whiff Buehler earned with the knuckle-curve on the day, but it painted the corner to totally fool Ozzie Albies.
Lance McCullers’ Changeup
https://gfycat.com/sardonicjitteryhalicore
Here’s McCullers again, this time with a nasty changeup that made Manuel Margot look silly. This was the second of three straight changeups that McCullers threw to strike Margot out, and McCullers had a ridiculous 12/18 CSW on the pitch in his outing. Here’s more on McCullers’ changeup courtesy of our own Alex Fast:
So for more clarity:
McCullers throws 18 CH.
8 result in a swing
ALL 8 of those swings are whiffs (0 in play, 0 fouls)No pitcher has gotten a min of 8 swings on their CH and had an 100% whiff rate this year.
— Alex Fast (@AlexFast8) October 18, 2020
Walker Buehler’s Fastball
https://gfycat.com/powerlessdistantasp
Buehler threw 53 fastballs on the day and he threw a ton of them to get out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the 2nd inning. He continually pumped 98, 99 and 100 MPH cheese past Braves’ hitters and looked incredibly dominant doing so. This particular pitch may have caught a bit more of the plate than some may like, but triple digits on the outside part of the plate is just plain gross.
Lance McCullers’ Knuckle-Curve
https://gfycat.com/nextcapitalamericanwigeon
Guess who? Yeah, it’s McCullers again. Crazy how he ended up losing the game with as many nasty pitches as he threw on the night, but it goes to show that nastiness doesn’t always equal success. He used his knuckle-curve the most in this one, earning 13/36 CSW including this ridiculous-looking sword from Ji-Man Choi. He had multiple Ks on this same pitch in the same exact location in the first inning, but this one had the best (worst) swing so it got included here. Hopefully we can see more of this from McCullers in 2021.