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 Nola’s Two Seam Fastball
https://gfycat.com/sociablecommondungenesscrab
Aaron Nola has always been able to get an insane amount of horizontal movement on his fastball, and he put it on display here in game two of the doubleheader. Nola’s first four pitches of this at bat were all away before he came inside and absolutely froze Dominic Smith with a fastball that ran back over the plate. (h/t to PL+ member nvita)
Jake Odorizzi’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/carefreeelderlyfairyfly
Jake Odorizzi made his Astros debut Tuesday night to middling results. He allowed a lot of hard contact, which contributed to the five runs he allowed in just over three innings. His best pitch of the night was a 2-1 back foot slider to Nomar Mazara that made him look foolish; however, Mazara would get the last laugh as he homered on the very next pitch. (h/t to PL+ member Dan)
Zac Gallen’s Four Seam Fastball
https://gfycat.com/uglyhiddenbluebird
Zac Gallen made his highly anticipated season debut Tuesday as he returned from a brief stint on the IL. He ran into a bit of trouble in the first but got out of the jam by freezing Seth Brown with a well-located four seamer on the outside corner.
Taijuan Walker’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/belatedhighindianhare
Taijuan Walker followed up a strong first start with another impressive outing on Tuesday. He had it working early, striking out seven in his first three innings. He finished with eight strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings of work. The first batter of the game, Andrew McCutchen, went down swinging on a 95 MPH sinker with a huge amount of arm side run.
Miguel Castro’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/fataggressiveantbear
Poor Andrew McCutchen was on the wrong side of a nasty pitch twice today. In this at bat, Miguel Castro gets McCutchen to swing over a changeup that had some pronounced late drop to elicit the whiff. (h/t to PL+ member nvita)
Adam Ottavino’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/biodegradablefarflungbrant
Adam Ottavino has always had a great slider, but he has recently lost some of the success that made him such a dominant reliever. After making the interdivision move from the Yankees to the Red Sox this offseason, he has settled in as one of Boston’s primary setup men. He showed off that sweeping slider here and produced a whiff from Max Kepler. (h/t to PL+ member bustercat)
Blake Snell’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/giddyflamboyantbeaver
Blake Snell didn’t last long in this one. He managed to get the first two batters of the game but was not able to record another out as he was pulled after allowing three runs through two-thirds of an inning. He did manage to get one nasty pitch in during his brief outing with this backfoot slider to put away Wilmer Difo. (h/t to PL+ member Christopher Reeves)
Shane Bieber’s Knuckle-Curve
https://gfycat.com/pointedoptimalcow
The best pitching matchup of the day featured Shane Bieber facing off with Lucas Giolito. The matchup lived up to the hype. Neither pitcher allowed a run as Cleveland was able to secure the win for Bieber by scoring two in the 10th. Bieber dominated over his nine innings, and his final pitch of the game may have been his best as he put away Yoan Moncada for his 11th strikeout of the night. (h/t to PL+ member Christopher Reeves)
Lucas Giolito’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/blushingdefiantbelugawhale
Lucas Giolito, meanwhile, dominated as well. He allowed five baserunners in his seven innings, striking out eight. After setting up Jose Ramirez with a fastball at the top of the zone, Giolito got Ramirez way out in front of the changeup at the bottom of the zone.
Jack Flaherty’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/amusedmessygelding
Jack Flaherty had a rough first outing but bounced back with six shutout innings his last time out. The success continued into Tuesday as he took on the Nationals. He struck out the first batter of the game, Victor Robles, on a hard 3-2 slider away after starting him off with five straight four seamers.
Trevor Bauer’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/passionatejoyfulleopardseal
The Dodgers continued to roll through their NL West opponents taking down the Rockies 7-0 behind Trevor Bauer’s seven strong innings. To end the third, he got Trevor Story to chase a slider way out of the zone. (h/t to PL+ member Christopher Reeves)
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)