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!
Corbin Burnes‘ Cutter
https://gfycat.com/FrailUnlinedAmphiuma
Corbin Burnes was phenomenal on the mound yesterday afternoon for the Brewers. Burnes tossed seven scoreless innings and struck out a baker’s dozen. Burnes’ ERA now sits a few ticks below two on the season. He had everything working for him yesterday, but it was his insane cutter that stole the show. Here he throws a painted back door cutter to freeze Ildemaro Vargas for strike three.
Max Fried’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/AgileHeftyCaracal
Max Fried has finally hit his groove after a sluggish start to the season. He’s slowly bringing his ERA down, and following yesterday’s one-run outing it sits at 4.63. We’re obviously going with Fried’s slow curve here, which he uses to fool superstar Mookie Betts and send him back to the dugout.
Trevor Bauer’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/poshbleakgallowaycow
Trevor Bauer opposed Fried on the mound yesterday, and everyone was focused in on Bauer’s spin rate. Bauer pitched okay though, even without the (alleged) sticky stuff on his hand. He gave up three runs over six quality innings, and struck out seven. Here Bauer uses a nasty slider to punch out William Contreras.
Chris Paddack’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/SingleIncomparableDotterel
The Padres’ pitching staff has been the best in baseball this year and when you have Chris Paddack as your number five starter it’s easy to see why that’s the case. Paddack’s got a lethal curveball, and he shows it off here against the blazing hot Francisco Lindor.
Logan Gilbert’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/DelightfulPhysicalFireant
Logan Gilbert’s start yesterday was a perfect encapsulation of 2021 pitching. Five innings, 105 pitches, four walks, and seven strikeouts made up Gilbert’s line score. All of Gilbert’s Ks were nasty, but it’s this filthy slider that he throws past two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani that takes the cake.
Kyle Hendricks‘ Changeup
https://gfycat.com/FluidDismalAfricanporcupine
Kyle Hendricks has struggled in 2021, and yesterday he was about in line with his season’s stat line. He threw 6.1 innings and struck out five, while allowing three runs. Here Hendricks uses his signature changeup to induce a swinging strike three out of LaMonte Wade Jr.
Dylan Cease’s Knuckle-Curve
https://gfycat.com/FlashyNearAlabamamapturtle
Moving on to a different Chicago team, we’re featuring White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease, who pitched masterfully yesterday. Cease pitched seven innings, and struck out 10 without allowing a single run to score. Cease’s nastiest pitch of the day came on this pitch, a filthy knuckle-curve that gets Nomar Mazara swinging.
Sandy Alcantara’s Fastball
https://gfycat.com/unrealisticchiefgiraffe
Sandy Alcantara pitched eight innings for the Marlins yesterday without giving up any earned runs. Alcantara picked up his third win of the season and struck out six Pirates. Alcantara used overpowering heat here to put away Gregory Polanco. At 99 mph and placed perfectly on the paint, that pitch is unhittable.
Conner Menez’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/MeaslyWarlikeFieldmouse
Conner Menez pitched two perfect innings in relief for the Giants yesterday. He struck out three of the six hitters he faced and he’s yet to allow a run this year. Here he whips a filthy slider across the zone to Jason Heyward who just whiffs at the pitch in futility.
Aroldis Chapman’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/ThickMammothGoshawk
Lastly, we’ve got a filthy pitch from Aroldis Chapman from Sunday Night Baseball’s Sox-Yankees match. Usually, we’d be featuring a 100 mph plus pitch here, but instead, we’ve got a filthy splitter that Chapman finesses past the bat of Marwin Gonzalez for a swinging strike three.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)
I know this may be a difficult ask, but the set-up is SO OFTEN a reason why a nasty pitch works. If there were a description or the GIF’s ran a couple pitches before the prized one, it would be so much better.
Nice to see what Boone called a “90mph knuckleball” getting the love it deserves from the voters.
That thang is pure filth.