The 10 Nastiest Pitches From Friday

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!

 

Alek Manoah’s Slider

 

https://gfycat.com/vengefulchiefdiamondbackrattlesnake

 

Alek Manoah was dominated the Rays lineup yesterday striking out seven batters in a row at one point. Manoah’s primary weapon was a slider with incredible depth and plenty of horizontal break as well.

 

Max Scherzer’s Changeup

 

https://gfycat.com/frenchslimbillygoat

 

Max Scherzer kept the Nationals in this game through six innings, but the bullpen fell apart in the seventh allowing seven runs. Scherzer used all of his pitches last night, but my favorite was this change that fades away from Chris Taylor’s bat.

 

Brusdar Graterol’s Sinker

 

https://gfycat.com/smoggybonyblackbuck

 

Brusdar Graterol is back in the majors displaying his triple-digit velocity from his seemingly no-effort windup. Graterol hits triple digits with this sinker that takes a sharp right turn to the inside corner of the strike zone.

 

Emmanuel Clase’s Cutter

 

https://gfycat.com/vasthugecoqui

 

Emmanuel Clase hits triple digits as Graterol does, but his cutter breaks in the opposite direction of Graterol’s cutter. Clase finished off Robel García with a pitch that seems unfair and almost impossible to hit with any authority.

 

Anthony Bender’s Slider

 

https://gfycat.com/qualifiedsnappyeskimodog

 

Anthony Bender has a great last name for a pitcher who uses a slider as his strikeout pitch. Bender’s slider just keeps breaking away from righties and Guillermo Heredia was left spinning after swinging through one for strike three.

 

Matt Barnes‘ Knuckle-Curve

 

https://gfycat.com/darlingwhirlwindirishwolfhound

 

Matt Barnes blew the save last night, but the Red Sox were able to pick him up and squeeze out a win. Barnes has trouble throwing strikes, but when he gets ahead of hitters he can use his vicious breaking ball to finish off hitters.

 

Lance McCullers Jr.s Sinker

 

https://gfycat.com/glossymemorableliger

 

Lance McCullers Jr.is another example of a pitcher finding more success trading a seemingly effective curveball for increased slider usage. McCullers also throws less sinker in favor of a four-seam fastball, but can still get hitters like Bradley Zimmer to give up on his glove side sinker before the pitch breaks onto the plate.

 

Anthony Castro’s Slider

 

https://gfycat.com/definitiveuntidycrayfish

 

Anthony Castro came in for mop-up duty in the Rays’ blowout of the Blue Jays and used his nasty slider to get Kevin Kiermaier for the swinging K. A well-spotted slider by Castro that was a strike if Kiermaier didn’t swing.

 

Drew Smyly’s Curveball

 

https://gfycat.com/hauntingoilybuzzard

 

Drew Smyly was effective in yesterday’s low scoring matchup between the Braves and Marlins. Smyly’s old reliable is his curveball and he was able to get Jorge Alfaro way out in front of this curveball.

 

Zack Wheeler’s Slider

 

https://gfycat.com/memorablebeneficialbarebirdbat

 

Zack Wheeler’s slider doesn’t get a ton of movement, but Wheeler throws all of his pitches harder than the average starter causing hitters to have less time to react which helps Wheeler’s stuff play up. This slider at ninety-two MPH freezes Trent Grisham to end the inning.

 

Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)