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!
Aaron Ashby’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/secretgiftedbeetle
Between Ashby, Joe Ryan, Josh Hader, and a few others you’ll see below, Wednesday’s Brewers-Twins matchup provided a whole smorgasbord of nasty pitching. Ashby only lasted four and one-third frames, but as usual, they were packed with tantalizing offerings. This slider was arguably the best, sweeping across the plate and disappearing before Kyle Garlick even knew what hit him.
Zac Gallen’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/favorablescaryflounder
Gallen had it cooking against the Giants, allowing just one hit and zero runs through six innings. But like Icarus, he flew too close to the sun — in this case, Brandon Belt, who homered off him for the first of two runs in the seventh that cut Gallen’s day short. Still, he gave us this beautifully-placed change that Joc Pederson’s still trying to find. Thanks, Zac. We appreciate your effort.
Devin Williams‘ Four-Seam Fastball
https://gfycat.com/oilyeachavians
Williams forces himself on this page pretty much every time he pitches, so this is no surprise. But for all his changeup wizardry, I’m always captivated by his heaters; probably because my reaction to seeing one up-close would be exactly the same as Nick Gordon’s on this strikeout here. Which is to say, utterly baffled. Fastballs are not supposed to move like that!
Camilo Doval’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/daringshimmeringbigmouthbass
Doval’s been in a bit of a funk lately, so it was great to see him come out again and shove in this one. He only threw three fastballs, all of which clocked triple digits. But this knock-out slider was even better, buckling Geraldo Perdomo despite never even crossing the plate.
Shane McClanahan’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/costlycomposedarachnid
The McClanahan show rolls on, and boy, is it a doozy. He finished with a casual 38% CSW against the Sawx, thanks in part to seven whiffs on changeups like this one. Refsnyder’s gonna need a bigger bat to hit that.
JT Brubaker’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/impracticallividladybird
Brubaker was on one in Miami, striking out nine in seven innings. This artfully-placed sinker to strike out Joey Wendle was the cherry on top. You can K-strut all the way to the dugout after a pitch like that.
Matt Brash’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/darlingeuphoricamazonparrot
It’s not easy to freeze up Juan Soto. It’s even harder to do so while looking like a pouncing puma in those super-tight pants. But Matt Brash can do it all, as he showed us with this magnificent corner-dotting sweeper. I’m not even mad about the pants anymore.
Jhoan Duran’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/edibleidioticbunny
Yes, this is technically a foul ball. But we have to pause and admire the chain of events on this pitch: Jhoan Duran splits his split so hard (at 96 MPH, no less) that Kolten Wong is reduced to kneeling. As a result, he almost accidentally taps the ball with his hapless bat, nudging the baseball downward just enough to catch catcher Ryan Jeffers right in the ol’ ball bucket, sending him sprawling. All in one, ahem, split second. Isn’t baseball grand?
Cristian Javier’s Knuckle-Curve
https://gfycat.com/honorabledependableleech
The last game of the night featured a tremendous matchup for fans of watching batters look foolish (more on that in a moment). Javier only managed to earn 11 outs in this game before he was removed in the fourth, but 10 of them — yes, ten — came via the strikeout. This pitch wasn’t even one of ’em, but it sure is pretty.
Shohei Ohtani’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/grouchybruisedcoqui
Yeah… it’s CB Bucknor’s world, we’re all just living in it.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)