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!
Kevin Gausman’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/embellisheduntimelyjanenschia
One of the most effective starts on this short Monday slate was by Kevin Gausman who picked up the win in six shutout innings over the Phillies. In those six shutout innings he picked up five strikeouts including this splitter dropping down for his first of the day, getting Rhys Hoskins swinging.
Nathan Eovaldi’s Cutter
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We saw a season high in K’s on Monday for Nathan Eovaldi, striking out 10 White Sox in 6.1 innings in this Patriot’s Day matchup. Though he allowed four runs in those innings, Eovaldi continues to display very impressive stuff to start off his season including this cutter moving back across the corner to catch Yasmani Grandal looking.
Dustin May’s Slider
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Dustin May is one of those pitchers who seem to always find his way on this list in every start. He started his night off strongly on Monday with this slider to strikeout Mitch Haniger swinging, one of his eight on the night.
Joe Musgrove’s Slider
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One start after his no-hitter and Joe Musgrove was just as, if not even better, on Monday night against the Brewers. He went seven innings and wracked up 13 strikeouts against the Brewers, among those was this slider bearing down to catch Keston Hiura swinging. We’ve all been waiting to see this stuff from Musgrove, and man is it fun to watch.
Joe Ross‘ Two-Seam Fastball
https://gfycat.com/infamouswearykiwi
No, Joe Ross did not have a good start on Monday, allowing 10 runs in his start against the Cardinals. But he did. have this two-seam fastball bearing in on Nolan Arenado that was nice enough to get him to swing and miss through it and land on a nastiest pitches article, so there’s at least that.
Garrett Whitlock’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/glumfixedfrillneckedlizard
Garrett Whitlock’s changeup is quickly becoming one of my favorite pitches to GIF and put in these articles, as he seems to end up on this list almost nightly now. Anytime you can make the reigning AL MVP in Jose Abreu to look as foolish as he did here, you deserve to be on this list. That is exactly what Whitlock did on this inside changeup, one of his two strikeouts to finish off the win over the White Sox.
Brandon Woodruff’s Curveball
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Brandon Woodruff marched Musgrove on Monday pitch for pitch, allowing only one hit in his six innings of work, and striking out seven, continuing his great start to the season. Here we see one of those strikeouts with a curveball dropping down through the zone forcing Jake Cronenworth to swing through the pitch.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)