Every morning, the We Love Baseball crew reviews the Nastiest Pitches from the previous day’s games. If you see something you think should be included here be sure to tweet @PitcherList to let us know. Or, if you’re a PL+ Member and part of our Discord, shout it out in the Nastiest Pitches channel. If your suggestion is included the next day, you’ll be entered into a weekly drawing for a free t-shirt. If you’re not already a PL+ member, you’re missing out!
Félix Bautista’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/grayveneratedjanenschia
On the pitch before this, Bautista threw a fastball to the backstop. He has the ninth-fastest four-seamer so that may have helped (accidentally) set up this splitter in the zone. Kiermaier isn’t a world-beater at the plate, but Bautista’s splitter has a .104 wOBA and .050 Avg on the season.
Corey Kluber’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/breakablegiddylemur
Kluber gets Mullins to flail feebly at this pretty changeup that ends up outside the zone. He’s only thrown it 9% of the time, but it is well above-average across the board, with an excellent 20% Swinging Strike% and .101 wOBA standing out.
Shane Bieber’s Knuckle Curve
https://gfycat.com/hotwarlikecoyote
Freeman homered on a knuckle curve earlier in the game, but Bieber got him to miss this one by a chain. Bieber’s curve continues to be one of the best in the game. A 40% O-Swing and 20.4% Swinging Strike% go hand-in-hand. Its Zone% is about league average at 39%. One wonders if disciplined hitters like the Yankees in the 2020 postseason laying off of it entirely would make it less effective.
Andrew Heaney’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/dentalcompetenthapuka
Heaney gets Straw to take a half swing at this slider. After missing about two months Heaney picked up where he left off in April with 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, and 7 Ks. He’s only thrown 15.1 IP in 2022, but something feels different about Heaney.
Eli Morgan’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/adorableidolizeddarwinsfox
Look at the loop on that 74 mph changeup. It’s perfectly spotted too. It averages 75.4 mph compared to the 85 mph league average changeup. It holds a .077 Avg, .132 wOBA, and 14.3% Hard Contact%.
Robert Stephenson’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/madeupcautiousekaltadeta
This 2,995 RPM slider had the highest spin of the game. It averages the fifth-most spin of any slider in MLB. This has resulted in a .071 AVG, .175 wOBA, and 8.8% Hard Contact rate.
Kyle Hendricks‘ Curveball
https://gfycat.com/weirdpessimisticbluebottle
Hendricks’ only throws his curveball 11% of the time, for good reason. It has just a 5.4% Swinging Strike%, .500 AVG, and .543 wOBA. Like the rest of his repertoire, it comes in especially slowly at just 73.1 mph.
Ian Anderson’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/bigvelvetyafricanaugurbuzzard
Rivas really tries to tee off on this one. Today it was the only whiff that Anderson got on his curveball. He gets average results on it and ranks at the bottom of movement and spin.
Devin Williams‘ Changeup
https://gfycat.com/fairembarrassedhapuku
William’s is at it again with his devastating changeup. I don’t think it’s necessary to say anything else.
Emmanuel Clase’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/sanespryilsamochadegu
The fastest pitch of the day spotted there is a challenge for Lux or anyone else. Much like with Williams there is not much else to say.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)