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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Sonny Gray’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/orneryfamousfawn
Sonny Gray pitched well in a loss to the Rangers on Monday but was provided with minimal support from the Twins’ offense. The loss would push the reeling Twins another half game back of the idle Guardians in the AL Central. Gray struck out six in as many innings and froze Jonah Heim on a fantastic sinker.
Max Scherzer’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/falsespitefulhypacrosaurus
Max Scherzer only struck out three Yankee hitters on Monday, a low total for the Mets’ ace. However, the veteran reached a milestone Monday night as this strikeout of Aaron Judge gave Scherzer his 3155th career strikeout, enough to pass the legendary Pedro Martinez on the all-time list.
Aaron Loup’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/dizzydapperfanworms
Aaron Loup tossed a scoreless inning of relief on Monday, but perhaps more impressive, he hit Francisco Mejía with a cutter and still managed to record a whiff.
Jeffrey Springs‘ Changeup
https://gfycat.com/cooperativefalseitalianbrownbear
Mike Trout returning from injury is good for the game of baseball. Jeffrey Springs provided a rude welcome to Tampa, though, as he punched out Trout with a nasty changeup in the first.
Jordan Montgomery’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/caringemotionalamericangoldfinch
An Albert Pujols solo homer provided the game’s lone run as The Machine storms toward the 700 HR club. Jordan Montgomery was the player of the game, however, as the former Yankee tossed a complete game shutout and allowed only a single hit. One of his seven strikeouts came at the expense of P.J. Higgins with a sinker that ran just enough to tail away from Higgins’ bat.
Roansy Contreras’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/weeklygravedunlin
Roansy Contreras pitched well in his second start following his recent call-up and showed off his electric pitch arsenal to the visiting Atlanta hitters. He struck out five and put away Travis d’Arnaud on a tight slider that fell off the table.
Julio Urías‘ Curveball
https://gfycat.com/yellowimpassionedamericancrocodile
The Dodgers’ rotation has battled injuries, but Julio Urías has been a steady presence in the pitching staff all season. Urías had the breaking ball working on Monday and tied up poor Mike Brosseau with a filthy breaking ball in the dirt.
Edward Cabrera’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/chubbyrealamericanrobin
Edward Cabrera features a five-pitch arsenal, but utilizes his changeup as his primary pitch, throwing it 36% of the time. His change comes in well above league average in velocity, evidenced here with a nasty 93 MPH one to Sean Murphy.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)