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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Pablo Lopez’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/illustriousfatherlyamericanpainthorse
Pablo Lopez was limited to a single pitch in his last outing after he was ejected for hitting Ronald Acuña Jr. The first batter of the game went better this time, as he struck out Mookie Betts on a diving changeup at 88 MPH.
Framber Valdez’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/scaredterrificjoey
Framber Valdez’s season started about two months late due to injury, but he has been nothing short of phenomenal since his return in late May. He got off to a rough start in this one, however, allowing three runs in the first, and the struggles continued throughout his short start. His big curveball has been a huge part of his success, though, and he showed it off here to Sean Murphy.
Aaron Nola’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/whichimpishgander
It was a windy day in Chicago as Aaron Nola led the Phillies into Wrigley. Nola has racked up the strikeouts lately, collecting double digits each of his last two times out. He didn’t reach that threshold last night as the wind affected both starters, but he did throw this nasty changeup to Anthony Rizzo for his first punchout of the night.
Ian Anderson’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/grimthesedeviltasmanian
Ian Anderson worked around busy basepaths all day to escape with only a single run allowed in his five innings. He struck out only four but on three different pitches. His lone strikeout coming on a changeup was at the expense of All-Star Bryan Reynolds.
Jose Berrios’ Curveball
https://gfycat.com/alarmedlividjuliabutterfly
Jose Berrios had a number of pitches that could have made this list today as both his curveball and sinker displayed some tremendous movement. This back-foot-breaking ball to Zack Collins may have been the best of the bunch, though.
Nathan Eovaldi’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/fortunateobviousbufeo
Newly minted All-Star Nathan Eovaldi didn’t have his best stuff in this one as the Angels got to him early and put up three in the first. He quickly settled down, however, and managed to collect nine strikeouts during the outing. Three came on his curveball, including this one to Phil Gosselin in the first.
Jon Gray’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/spottedquestionableliger
Merrill Kelly took advantage of a poor Rockies team on the road as he led the Diamondbacks to a 4-3 victory. Opposing pitcher Jon Gray got the better of him in this at-bat as Gray finished off his counterpart with a nasty slider.
Carlos Rodon’s Four Seam Fastball
https://gfycat.com/shadowypaltryaardwolf
Carlos Rodon sustained his dominant form in a Tuesday matchup with the Twins as the lefty went six strong innings while allowing only one run. He battled the rain all night in Minneapolis, but that didn’t dampen his velocity as he ended his night on a 100 MPH fastball for his eighth and final strikeout, taking down Max Kepler.
Carlos Hernandez’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/complexillduckbillcat
Carlos Hernandez was the first man out of the pen for the Royals on Tuesday night, and in only three and two-thirds innings of work, he managed six strikeouts and an impressive 14 whiffs. This slider was so nasty Aristides Aquino lost his bat.
Ryan Pressly’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/damagedfreeadamsstaghornedbeetle
Ryan Pressly was called upon to close out the back and forth game between the top two teams in the AL West. He was able to finish off the A’s in only eight pitches and picked up a strikeout of Ramon Laureano on a well-placed curveball.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)