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!
Tommy Nance’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/unawaremintybrocketdeer
Tommy Nance came on in the ninth inning to close out the game, and boy did he close it out in style. This ridiculous sinker to end the game totally fooled Jurickson Profar, and he realized his mistake very shortly after. Nance features two sharp breakers (slider and curveball) as well as this sinker with a ton of movement and solid velocity. Keep your eye on Nance in the coming weeks, he may be the breakout reliever of 2021.
José Berríos‘ Curveball
https://gfycat.com/sardonicfalsecockroach
Who doesn’t love a good José Berríos curveball? Stevie Wilkerson doesn’t, that’s who. And after seeing this ridiculous hook, I don’t blame him.
Corbin Burnes‘ Changeup
https://gfycat.com/sphericalillustriousharpseal
A lot of hype this season has been around Corbin Burnes‘ cutter, but don’t forget about his nasty changeup. By the looks of that swing, I’m guessing Willi Castro may have forgotten, but I don’t think he’ll forget again.
Jacob deGrom’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/pointlesscourteousleopard
I’ll be honest here, when I looked at yesterday’s schedule I was disappointed to see that Jacob deGrom was pitching in a late game on the west coast. Luckily it didn’t take him very long to throw some disgusting stuff, including a few triple digit fastballs and some devastating sliders. This one in particular to Domingo Leyba was simply unfair.
César Valdez’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/creativememorableanteater
Speaking of unfair, how is anyone supposed to hit César Valdez’s changeup? Even when you know it’s coming it can still disappear under a bat like Houdini. Rob Refsnyder got to experience that first hand in this filthy offering from Valdez.
Jorge López’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/delightfulfoolhardyflea
Jorge López had some nasty changeups on Monday, but this sinker takes the cake as his nastiest pitch of the day. That thing starts off right over the middle of the plate and nearly ends up hitting Nelson Cruz in the chest. Sinkers aren’t usually whiff pitches, so when one does get a whiff something extraordinary must have happened. I’ll call this one extraordinary. (H/t PL+ member AnOldOldWoodenShippy)
Lucas Luetge’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/insecurethunderousinexpectatumpleco
I love a good slow curveball. This one from Lucas Luetge clocked in at 76 MPH, which may be slow for some but is still faster than I’ve ever thrown a ball. I once hit 70 with no warm up, but my arm hurt for the next week. Never again. Anyway, a man who is used to seeing baseballs buzzing by him at a much faster rate is Mike Zunino, and despite his best effort he couldn’t catch up with this beauty. Better luck next time.
Trevor Bauer’s Fastball
https://gfycat.com/agiledaringgoldfish
Finally, Trevor Bauer’s fastball wraps up today’s installment of Nastiest Pitches, because of course it does. Every time he throws one of these I think “wow that’s a nice sinker,” only to then double check his Baseball Savant page and remember he doesn’t throw a sinker. What he lacks in velocity he makes up for in movement, and it’s beautiful.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)