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!
Chris Sale’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/satisfiedblandherring
Chris Sale’s lone blemish last night was a no-doubter homer from Austin Hays, but immediately settled down and struck out Ramón Urías with an absolutely vicious slider. Sale misses his spot on the outside corner badly, and I don’t like picking missed spots, but the ridiculous lateral run on the pitch can’t be denied.
Luis Castillo’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/discretesoftanophelesmosquito
Luis Castillo gave the Dodgers a preview of what the end of their season could look like pitching a gem to get the win. The Dodgers might end up in a wildcard game against the Reds, and if the Reds have the chance to start Castillo the Dodgers will remember Castillo spotting both his sinker and his changeup precisely on the outside black. Mookie Betts could only hop and walk back to the dugout on this pitch.
Brandon Bielak’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/plaintivedefiantiberianlynx
Brandon Bielak pitched under three innings and was able to strike out six Dbacks hitters in his brief outing. Bielak’s slider is reminiscent of Chaz Roe’s all-time GIFable slider with great horizontal movement.
Aaron Ashby’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/unrealisticfreeafricanclawedfrog
Aaron Ashby pitched three innings last night and showed his potential to be a multiple inning weapon in the playoffs. Ashby has three pitches that are nasty enough to be featured on this list and I went with his changeup. Ashby’s slider and sinker are awesome as well, but Ashby’s changeup reminds me of Zack Greinke’s changeup in his prime with even more velocity.
Dylan Cease’s Knuckle-Curve
https://gfycat.com/smartcarefreeirishsetter
Dylan Cease flashed all of his pitches and struck out ten Rangers hitters in only five innings of action. Cease’s inconsistent control and command haven’t kept him from having a stupendous season, but sometimes his pitch count gets away from in the process of piling up Ks.
Walker Buehler’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/incomparablecostlyindri
Walker Buehler might be disappointed to lose his duel against Luis Castillo, but Buehler’s quality start is usually good enough for the Dodgers lineup to secure the win. Buehler’s velocity did seem slightly down and is something to watch going forward into the stretch run and for Dodgers fans, hopefully the playoffs.
Hirokazu Samwamura’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/vengefulfrightenedamericanbadger
Hirokazu Sawamura pitched a clean inning on a night the Red Sox bullpen did its job to secure Chris Sale the win. Sawamura is a fun example of a guy that doesn’t physically look like he’s capable of anything noteworthy throwing a low nineties splitter that dives out of the strike zone.
Nate Pearson’s Four-Seam Fastball
https://gfycat.com/athletictotalgrayling
As a Yankees fan, watching Nate Pearson pitch makes me fear a potential wildcard matchup against the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays lineup is scary enough without an in-form Pearson to follow Hyun-jin Ryu. Pearson flashed his effective slider and spotted his fastball exquisitely on the arm side black.
Zack Wheeler’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/infantilewarmcanary
Zack Wheeler is another starter that has the potential to lead a playoff rotation for a team that needs length from its limited number of effective starting pitchers. Wheeler seemed amped to pitch against his former team and plowed through their lineup using all his pitches. Wheeler finished Francisco Lindor with this late moving high-velocity slider.
Wil Crowe’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/blackandwhiteentirekoalabear
Wil Crowe is a pitcher who’s been on my radar since I spotted his tumbling changeup and hard-breaking slider a couple of months ago and after a great start last night against the Marlins I’m happy to include him in Nastiest Pitches. He may never be a consistently effective pitcher in the majors, but I’ll be keeping an eye on him going forward because of the potential he’s flashed with those two nasty pitches.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)