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/imaginativeconstantafricanaugurbuzzard
Kevin Gausman started his second consecutive game against the Red Sox on Tuesday, this time back home in Canada. Gausman picked up right where he left off last start, dominating a struggling Red Sox lineup. He made Kiké Hernández look foolish on his patented splitter.
Nick Pivetta’s Knuckle-Curve
https://gfycat.com/wavysecondhorseshoebat
Nick Pivetta took the hill opposite Gausman on Tuesday as the veteran righty looked to right the ship on what has become a horrendous start to the season. Pivetta entered the night with an ERA over ten and a WHIP over two. Tuesday appeared to be a step in the right direction for the Sox hurler and he showed off a big breaking ball here to put away Matt Chapman.
Max Fried’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/defenselesswarmdunlin
Max Fried’s three starts have progressively improved over the young year as the Atlanta lefty looked to carry that momentum over into Tuesday. He allowed an early homer but would settle in picking up four strikeouts over his six innings of work. He picked up one here in the third with a nice curveball to Michael Hermosillo.
Brandon Woodruff’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/terribleelegantblackbuck
Brandon Woodruff had a rough opening start but has been back to his usual, dominant self over the last two. He picked up nine strikeouts last Wednesday against the Pirates and collected six more Tuesday, this time in Pittsburgh. He ended the first with a punchout of Yoshi Tsutsugo on a changeup that wouldn’t stop running away from the zone.
Sandy Alcantara’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/accuratedeficientgrasshopper
Like Woodruff, Marlins’ ace Sandy Alcantara has a fantastic changeup, though Alcantara provides a little more velocity as his changeup averages an impressive 92 MPH. He showed off the hard change to Josh Bell here and got the slugger to go down swinging.
Logan Gilbert’s Slider
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Logan Gilbert was a popular breakout candidate heading into 2022, and while the season is still very young, the early returns have been encouraging. Gilbert struck out seven over his five and two-thirds innings Tuesday against the Rays en route to the win. Only one of the seven Ks came on a slider, but it was a nasty one to Randy Arozarena.
Josiah Gray’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/breakablealarmingjabiru
Josiah Gray opposed the aforementioned Alcantara Tuesday and the former Dodger prospect turned in another strong start for his new club in Washington. Gray punched out ten Marlins and carried an impressive 39 CSW%. He put away Joey Wendle on a great curveball below the zone.
Chris Paddack’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/unevenanguishedfirefly
After trade rumors swirled most of the offseason, Chris Paddack was finally traded just before Opening Day moving from sunny San Diego to the much chillier Minneapolis. His third start for the Twins proved to be his best with his new team as Paddack struck out six over five and two-thirds one-run innings. He took Robbie Grossman to a knee here on a beautiful diving changeup.
Eduardo Rodriguez’s Changeup
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Eduardo Rodriguez, Paddack’s counterpart on Tuesday, also showed off a great changeup of his own to Carlos Correa. Rodriguez, like Paddack, is a newcomer to the AL Central this year, but the lefty has not had a strong start to the season with his new club. He did bounce back a bit on Tuesday picking up six strikeouts in six innings while limiting the Twins to three runs.
Justin Lawrence’s Slider
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Rockies’ reliever Justin Lawrence was tasked with clean-up duty in a 10-1 game, but the sophomore Rockie made an impression with an absolutely disgusting slider to Odúbel Herrera. The perfectly placed back foot slider tied up Herrera and took him down to a knee for the K in what was an otherwise forgettable night for Colorado.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)