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!
Zack Wheeler’s Fastball
https://gfycat.com/rectangularmelodicgoosefish
Zack Wheeler was dominant on Thursday afternoon, throwing eight shutout innings with a grand total of 12 strikeouts. With those 12 strikeouts came a CSW of 33%. The most impressive of these strikeouts was this one to start his day, blowing a 98 mile per hour fastball right past Ozzie Albies as he climbed the ladder and forced Albies to swing right through it.
Dallas Keuchel’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/terriblesparklingdairycow
Another consistent outing for Dallas Keuchel on Thursday, with a season-high of eight strikeouts in the win over the Blue Jays. With this outing came a very impressive 31% CSW, and this slow changeup that left Bo Bichette looking quite off-balance in the process.
Liam Hendriks‘ Slider
https://gfycat.com/favoritefavorablefirebelliedtoad
Finishing off this aforementioned White Sox win on Thursday was Liam Hendricks as he struck out two to pick up his 16th save of the season. While both strikeouts could have landed on this list, it was his first one, this slider bearing in on Rowdy Tellez which was the most impressive, earning him a spot in this article.
Lucas Luetge’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/officialimportantambushbug
Lucas Luetge came on to preserve the Yankees’ lead over the Twins on Thursday and did just that with his lone strikeout coming on this back door cutter, sending Josh Donaldson down looking.
Chad Green’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/imaginarytenseanhinga
Chad Green worked himself into a bit of a jam on Thursday but escaped it with this nasty curveball bearing away from Miguel Sano and holding the Yankees lead at the time.
Luis Castillo’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/pitifulpreciousethiopianwolf
Luis Castillo surprisingly returned for the Reds after the rain delay and battled to give Cincinnati 5.2 strong innings of one-hit ball, though in a loss to the Brewers. The final out Castillo recorded was this changeup down and in to Avisail Garcia, holding the runners on before being pulled by manager David Bell. (H/T to PL+ member AnOldWoodenShippy).
Adam Ottavino’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/happygoluckyhighlevelanemone
Adam Ottavino continues his strong bounce-back season as a major piece in the success of the Boston Red Sox helping to preserve the lead in this win over the Astros. Here we see his bread and butter pitch, his slider, as he perfectly locates it on the inside corner catching Alex Bregman looking. (H/T to PL+ member Pete Dixon).
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)