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!
Spenser Watkins‘ Curveball
https://gfycat.com/meekdisguisedguanaco
Watkin’s curveball is very over-the-top and he generally gets pretty average results on it. He is capable of spinning a real good one that seems to drop more than anyone expects. This is what happens to Cruz here.
Aaron Nola’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/fearfulglumborderterrier
Nola only uses his cutter 4% of the time, for good reason. It is probably his 5th best pitch, but it certainly works here. Cruz has finally seemed to age in 2022 and he chases this nasty pitch.
Aaron Nola’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/talkativereliableangora
Nola’s knuckle curve gets far more use at 27%. It has an excellent 48% O-Swing%, 20.7% Swinging Strike rate, and .248 wOBA. Nola has rebounded nicely after a largely unlucky 2021.
Corbin Burnes‘ Cutter
https://gfycat.com/scaredjointblacklemur
Burnes’ cutter is at it again. This is a typical placement of it and this is a typical result. He uses it 56% of the time and it is excellent across the board. It is a big reason why most of his metric sliders are red.
Corbin Burnes‘ Curveball
https://gfycat.com/fixedonlybangeltiger
Burnes didn’t become possibly the best SP in baseball with just his cutter. His curveball is his 2nd most used pitch. It has an excellent 41% O-Swing%, 22.2% Swinging Strike rate, .171 wOBA, and .160 xwOBA.
Graham Ashcraft’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/wastefulscentedkittiwake
Ashcraft uses his cutter about as much as Burnes, but not to the same effect of course. It does have a 62% GB% and .306 wOBA however.
Matt Manning’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/denseimpolitechipmunk
The knuckle curve grip is nicely visible in the slow-mo. Manning finished the day with 7.0 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, and 7 Ks on 95 pitches. In very limited duty due to injury he only has 4 starts in 2022, but he has pitched pretty well. He’ll be much needed to transition the Tigers from rebuilding to competitive.
Cory Abbott’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/spiritedbrightisopod
It looks like Stubbs was geared up for a 2-1 fastball and was fooled by this good curve. Abbott is still only 26, but he hasn’t been particularly impressive early in his career. This pitch is a reminder that even the”bad” MLB players are really, really good at baseball and referring to them as “bad at baseball” is highly inaccurate.
Kevin Gausman’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/realbarrenamericanavocet
Gausman may have the best splitter in baseball. It boasts an astounding 54% O-Swing% and 27.8% Swinging Strike rate. The .196 wOBA and .172 xwOBA aren’t bad either.
José Ureña’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/zestyanothergecko
This sinker traveled a long way to tie up Rivera. Despite the impressive horizontal movement on this particular pitch, the sinker for Ureña has not been good. It has a .312 AVG, .356 wOBA, and .415 xwOBA.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)