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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Reid Detmers‘ Curveball
https://gfycat.com/SizzlingDeliciousLamprey
For the second Monday in a row, I’m starting off this article with a Reid Detmers curveball. Detmers still needs to find his rhythm as he gave up five runs, but I can’t help but be amazed by this filthy hammer. The pitch just gets an absurd amount of drop on the 60-foot journey past Chris Taylor’s bat.
Walker Buehler’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/SeveralDescriptiveBurro
On the other side of the Freeway Series matchup, Walker Buehler was absolutely dealing all day. Buehler struck out eight, and while there were plenty of pitches that were up for contention here, I went with this filthy cutter that runs in on Adam Eaton for strike three.
Zack Wheeler’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/DeterminedOccasionalHermitcrab
Zack Wheeler was near-perfect on the mound for the Phillies yesterday only allowing just three baserunners while striking out 11. Wheeler made every pitch count over his complete-game shutout and here was the cherry on top: a wicked 98 mph sinker that runs in on Pete Alonso to end the ballgame.
Jorge López’s Knuckle-Curve
https://gfycat.com/EagerGroundedGoitered
Jorge López has struggled all year, but yesterday he looked comfortable on the mound. López tossed six quality innings for the Orioles and struck out five. Here he gets Brandon Lowe swinging at a nasty knuckle-curve for the first out of the game.
Luis Gil’s Fastball
https://gfycat.com/GraciousGrouchyDog
Luis Gil has been nothing short of elite in his first two major league starts. Gil pitched five shutout innings and struck out eight Mariners hitters. Gil had a combo of his fastball and slider getting him his punch outs and here he notched a backwards K on a painted 97 mph fastball.
Johnny Cueto’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/CavernousTalkativeBasil
Johnny Cueto is always fun to watch, as his funky windup and delivery always seem to catch hitters off guard. Here he surprises Jackie Bradley Jr. with a filthy offspeed pitch that dips out of the zone at the last moment and makes JBJ look silly.
Paul Sewald’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/ScornfulFreeIbadanmalimbe
Paul Sewald has been in the midst of the most dominant season of his career. Yesterday, Sewald struck out four of the five hitters he faced bringing his K/9 up to 15.32 on the season. Here he puts away Brett Gardner on an absolutely devastating back-foot slider. Just unfair.
Max Fried’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/FluffyRightAyeaye
Onto a mainstay of Nastiest Pitches, we’ve got Max Fried’s disgusting curveball. Fried might just have one of the filthiest curves in the league and it shows here against Carter Kieboom who stands absolutely no shot on this absurd pitch. Just check out the slo-mo and tell me that isn’t ridiculous.
Blake Snell’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/RegalWetAfricanwilddog
Blake Snell had one of the most dominant outings of his career yesterday for the Padres as he matched a career-high 13 strikeouts over seven masterful innings. Snell had his slider working all day and here he throws it past Kole Calhoun who swings as the pitch runs out of the zone.
Tyler Mahle’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/RegalDisgustingArcticwolf
Finally, we’ve got Tyler Mahle who pitched seven innings of two-run ball for the Reds. Mahle struck out ten and even got OBP machine Bryan Reynolds swinging on a filthy splitter that brought the Pirates’ centerfielder down to a knee.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)