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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Aaron Nola’s Knuckle-Curve
https://gfycat.com/determinedvibrantiguanodon
Aaron Nola produced a strong 32% CSW on Monday but still wound up on the losing end of the contest as the righty allowed five runs in seven innings. He did record seven strikeouts including a pair on his knuckle-curve, like this one to Juan Yepez.
Zach Pop’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/secondhandblackassassinbug
Lauded for his defensive prowess, Jake Marisnick made an impact with his bat on Monday, launching a home run and picking up a pair of RBIs. He was only put away once in his four plate appearances and it took this nasty Zach Pop sinker to do so.
Max Scherzer’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/everlastingpowerfulkinkajou
Max Scherzer’s second start in his return from injury was just as impressive as his first as the veteran picked up nine strikeouts over seven innings en route to a victory. He tallied strikeouts on four different pitches though the majority came on the cutter. He showed off a great one here to Matt Olson.
Luke Bard’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/bogusbittercockroach
Luke Bard was the third of five Rays pitchers on Monday who faced off against the visiting Boston Red Sox. The Rays took advantage of some sloppy defense to score ten runs and pick up the victory. Bard stopped the Red Sox threat in the middle innings as the Tampa offense would go on to put away Boston for good. Bard finished off the fifth with a fantastic cutter to tie up Franchy Cordero.
Adrian Martinez’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/bluesomegull
Adrian Martinez took the hill for the visitors in Monday night’s AL West showdown but failed to make it out of the fifth while allowing six runs. Two of his three punchouts came in the first inning including this great changeup to Nathaniel Lowe.
Trevor Stephan’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/bigyoungherald
Trevor Stephan recorded two perfect innings Monday to pick up a hold as the Guardians doubled up the White Sox 8-4. Stephan ended his night with back-to-back strikeouts and put away José Abreu with a great splitter.
Alex Cobb’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/glamorousanotherchinchilla
Alex Cobb started Monday’s nightcap for the Giants. He faced traffic on the base paths all night allowing ten baserunners in six innings but held the Diamondbacks to only three runs. Cobb picked up four strikeouts and ended the fifth with a nasty backdoor two-seamer to Buddy Kennedy.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)