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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Trevor Richards‘ Changeup
https://gfycat.com/blaringunlinedibis
This changeup moves so much that Kirk has a hard time catching it. It almost has a knuckleball-like flutter to it. Richards has a 5.05 ERA and 1.49 WHIP, but it’s not his changeup’s fault. It has a 51.9% O-Swing%, 25.6% Swinging Strike%, and .229 wOBA.
Alek Manoah’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/biodegradablekeenbluefish
This is a 3-0 sinker that finishes well off the plate that still gets Torres to swing at. Manoah is a young star and his sinker is a big part of that.
Charlie Morton’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/someshockedgalapagosmockingbird
This pitch ends up way off the plate, but it gets a good young hitter in Jeremy Peña to chase. Morton has been making hitters do this for years now with this curveball. It’s his most used pitch this year at 37% and it has a 18.4% Swinging Strike% and .254 wOBA.
José Urquidy’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/reliablegeneraldeinonychus
This curveball takes a sudden sharp dive, making Michael Harris II look foolish. Urquidy’s curveball averages about 3.5 inches more drop than the average MLB curve. Despite this, it has gotten average to below-average results.
Camilo Doval’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/secretpowerlessarcticseal
The velocity of this cutter from Doval reminds me of Emmanuel Clase. It doesn’t get much movement, but he hits the glove. Overall, Doval has been a solid reliever, but the cutter has just been OK. He only has 77 IP in his career, so this may improve with some tweaks.
Justin Steele’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/boringverifiableamericankestrel
Steele has been coming on of late. His slider has a .135 AVG, .170 wOBA, and 13.9% Hard Contact%. It also has about 300 more RPM and 4 inches more horizontal movement than the average MLB slider.
Alexis Díaz’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/offbeathugegoldenmantledgroundsquirrel
When sliders are located like this they are very successful. Díaz is rapidly becoming a dominant reliever. His player page has a lot of red on it, but what stands out the most is his 100th percentile extension.
Shohei Ohtani’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/ultimateaptamurratsnake
Ohtani misses his spot badly here, but it didn’t matter. He still created this awkward swing. His slider is the most used of his many pitches, at 36%. It gets good, but not excellent results. Apparently, it’s the only thing he is not amazing at.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)