The 10 Nastiest Pitches From Thursday

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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Kevin Gausman’s Splitter

https://gfycat.com/silverimmaculateantelope
Down ten players and facing the Jays’ ace in Toronto, the Royals pulled out a 3-1 win, just like we all drew it up. Gausman did his part tossing six innings and allowing only two runs. In his first at-bat, the rookie Pasquantino came up empty on this filthy splitter from the former Oriole.

 

Drew Rasmussen’s Cutter

https://gfycat.com/cleverparallelballoonfish
Rasmussen’s cutter was sharp last night and returned eight whiffs on 19 total swings (42% Whiff rate), including this one in Rafael Devers‘ first at-bat.

 

Triston McKenzie’s Curveball

https://gfycat.com/actualdampdunlin
What a performance from McKenzie last night as he piled up a career-high 12 punchouts. He had the curveball working as it returned ten whiffs on 17 swings; good for an even 50% CSW.

 

Luis Castillo’s Changeup

https://gfycat.com/thinneatesok
Castillo, a candidate to be traded at the deadline, certainly bolstered his stock by holding the Yankees to just one measly run across seven innings. Facing Aaron Judge in his second at-bat, he caught the slugger way out in front on a beautiful changeup.

 

Carlos Rodón’s Fastball

https://gfycat.com/menacingpolishedislandwhistler
He wasn’t at his best last night, but give the man credit; he battled. In the second with the bases juiced and no outs, Rodón dug deep and struck out the next three batters, including Willy Adames on this high heat to end the threat and keep the game scoreless.

 

Corbin Burnes‘ Cutter

https://gfycat.com/brownzestyamurstarfish

The cutter was up to its old tricks last night in what was a fun pitcher’s duel last night at Oracle Park. Burnes didn’t collect the win, but he pitched into the eighth and held the Giants to two runs while picking up ten strikeouts.

 

Framber Valdez’s Curveball

https://gfycat.com/insecurelikablecavy
Brandon Marsh took home the Golden Sombrero last night, his second came on this perfectly located curveball on the outside edge from Valdez; nothing you can do with that pitch.

 

Carlos Carrasco’s Slider

https://gfycat.com/impracticalidioticboubou
After a pair of clunkers against the Astros in June, Carrasco has so far put together a decent July. Last night he silenced the Cubbies at Wrigley Field and collected six strikeouts, including Seiya Suzuki in his second at-bat courtesy of this well-placed slider in the bottom of the zone.

 

Corbin Burnes‘ Changeup

https://gfycat.com/vacanthideousequine

Sure, the cutter was great and all. But the changeup was there too. Overall, Burnes’ slow ball has returned a 49.2% whiff rate, not bad for a pitch he throws 8% of the time. And it has one of the tightest heat zones, you’ll ever see; a perfect bulls-eye down and away against lefties.

 

Albert Abreu’s Sinker

https://gfycat.com/hotpresenthuia

Have arm, will travel; forever the odyssey of a middle reliever who throws hard. The Yankees first acquired Abreu from the Astros back in November of 2016 in exchange for catcher Brian McCann. Four years later he made his debut. This past April the Yankees dealt him to the Rangers for Jose Trevino. The Rangers sent him to the Royals, who DFA’d him about a month ago. Back in the Bronx after clearing waivers, he got four outs last night including this punchout of Jonathan India on a 99 MPH sinker.

Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)