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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Hunter Greene’s Four-Seam Fastball
https://gfycat.com/sentimentalentireamazondolphin
Hunter Greene has battled inconsistency throughout the first few months of his rookie season, but when he’s on, he has some of the most electric stuff in the game. On Monday, he was on. Greene allowed only a single baserunner over his seven innings of work with an impressive 17 whiffs on 87 pitches. He likely could’ve continued in this game, but his outing was cut short by rain. His final strikeout of the night came on an easy 100 mph elevated fastball to Alek Thomas.
Hunter Greene’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/rigidbountifulfowl
Rain would be a consistent theme Monday, and further abbreviated an already small slate. Due to the lack of games, we’ll double up on Hunter Greene, this time featuring his slider. This slider was particularly nasty, getting Ketel Marte to go fishing on a ball in the dirt.
Madison Bumgarner’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/flawedwhichamazontreeboa
Madison Bumgarner didn’t have quite the success that his counterpart on the mound did, but he still makes Nastiest Pitches with this well-placed cutter down and in. Three of Bumgarner’s four strikeouts came on the cut fastball and Alejo Lopez’s whiff accounted for the lone swinging strikeout on the cutter.
Carlos Carrasco’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/flustereddisloyalkakarikis
The Mets provided Carlos Carrasco with a three-run advantage before he even threw a pitch on Monday, and the veteran righty rode that momentum to a victory over the Padres. His first strikeout came off the second batter he faced as Jake Cronenworth chased a changeup that disappeared below the zone.
Carlos Carrasco’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/everlastingscaryeskimodog
Like Greene, we’ll double up on Carlos Carrasco this evening as the Mets’ hurler led the league Monday with ten strikeouts. His final punchout of the night came by way of the slider to finish off the Padres’ threat in the seventh.
Sergio Romo’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/gracefulmajoriggypops
39-year-old Sergio Romo is not the dominant reliever he once was, but so long as his slider continues to look like this, he’ll have a spot in someone’s bullpen. Romo worked himself into a jam here in the eighth but escaped unharmed thanks to a well located breaking ball below the zone to Jason Castro.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)