Every morning, the We Love Baseball crew reviews the Nastiest Pitches from the previous day’s games. If you see something you think should be included here be sure to tweet @PitcherList to let us know. Or, if you’re a PL+ Member and part of our Discord, shout it out in the Nastiest Pitches channel. If your suggestion is included the next day, you’ll be entered into a weekly drawing for a free t-shirt. If you’re not already a PL+ member, you’re missing out! We’ll look at some of the nastiest pitches from last night’s All-Star game.
Clayton Kershaw’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/frailhauntingguanaco
Not much to say here. Kershaw has an amazing everything and Devers probably wasn’t quite as focused as he would be in a regular game. Both of these combined to result in this wild chase.
Joe Musgrove’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/icymilkyhackee
The metrics for Musgrove’s curveball are all excellent. So far in 2022, it has a 40% O-Swing%, 68% GB%, and .253 wOBA. It also has 2,750 RPMs of spin and he consistently places in down and glove-side like this.
Alek Manoah’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/largenastyhadrosaurus
Manoah throws his sinker 23% of the time and it has an excellent 37% O-Swing% and 74% GB%. Despite its relatively high usage he has yet to give up a home run on it in 2022.
Tony Gonsolin’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/whiteweegrosbeak
Gonsolin is having the best season of his career with a 2.02 ERA and 0.84 WHIP over 93.2 IP. His slider has played a large role in his success with a 20.7% SwStr%, .188 wOBA, and .228 xwOBA. It is likely he slows down in the second half as he has already nearly doubled his previous IP high of 55.2 IP in 2021.
Joe Mantiply’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/favoritewandeer
Mantiply had an okay 2021 with a 3.40 ERA over 39.2 IP, but he has exploded this year and it is largely due to this changeup. It has a 59.6% O-Swing%, .227 wOBA, and 73.3% GB%. He does an excellent job keeping it low with a 78% loLoc%. However, he may be in for a rough time if hitters stop swinging at it once they realize he has only thrown it in the zone 26.2% of the time.
Sandy Alcantara’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/playfulsprycopperbutterfly
Alcantara is having a dominant season. He ranks first in IP, second in ERA, and sixth in WHIP amongst starters. He is a lot of fun to follow—and not just because of 100 mph sinkers like this one.
Shane McClanahan’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/redimpracticallaughingthrush
McClanahan gets one of the best hitting catchers in the game on this well-placed curveball. His metrics are dark red across the board and he is certainly a Cy Young contender.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)