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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Shane McClanahan’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/unrulyfancybutterfly
Shane McClanahan worked his way to a very impressive 41% CSW on Thursday over five strong innings with eight punchouts in the win over the Orioles. His curveball was the most impressive pitch with a 48% CSW of its own, as seen here punching out Austin Hays with a massive drop out of the zone as Hays swings right over the top and goes down on strikes.
Zack Wheeler’s Fastball
https://gfycat.com/clumsyselfassuredinchworm
Zack Wheeler did not have his best stuff on Thursday with the Diamondbacks able to push six runs across against the possible Cy Young Award winner. He will make it onto this list with this 98 mph fastball blown right past the swing of Nick Ahmed.
Luis Castillo’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/definitivebrokenfieldmouse
While the Marlins scattered eight hits against Luis Castillo, Castillo was able to limit the damage to only one run against him while tallying eight strikeouts. His offspeed pitches were working greatly on Thursday with multiple options to be on the nastiest pitches. However, this changeup to Isan Diaz makes the mark, as Diaz was way out in front and could not hit this pitch dropping down and out of the zone.
Brandon Woodruff’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/idioticsoulfularmyant
While Brandon Woodruff got a bit “ruffed” up on Thursday, that did not stop him from making an appearance on this article with a gorgeous curveball that locked up Harrison Bader. This pitch is even more impressive considering it came after two more beautiful sliders, keeping Bader off-balance all at-bat.
Zack Britton’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/neardetailedavocet
Zack Britton picked up the hold on Thursday helping to preserve the Yankees lead over the Twins. Britton is still slowly working through things to get back from his struggles but when he drops sinkers like this one past Josh Donaldson, we know he is slowly getting back to what we know he could be.
Jameson Taillon’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/bitesizedinconsequentialbedbug
Jameson Taillon continued the complete turnaround of his season with a solid start in 5.1 innings over the Twins. Here we see a very nice curveball dropping down to get Miguel Sano down swinging.
Blake Treinen’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/largeneatairedaleterrier
Blake Treinen looked incredibly sharp as he locked down the save over the Mets Thursday night. It was a perfect inning for Treinen as he struck out the side to pick up this save, and here we see his most impressive one, this nasty slider down and away to cause an awkward swing and miss from J.D. Davis.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)