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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Merrill Kelly’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/readyfabulouselkhound
Merrill Kelly is one of the only reasons to watch Diamondbacks baseball right now and this outing had everything we love about the veteran starter, including this ridiculous 89 mph changeup to embarrass Mike Yastrzemski.
A.J. Puk’s Four-Seam Fastball
https://gfycat.com/queasymistyfallowdeer
A.J. Puk has always promised much with that devastating velocity and the Athletics have been cautious with him after years of multiple injury concerns. So far this season Puk has been outstanding and should move into a high-leverage role in the coming seasons if he continues with 99 mph heaters that rise and force elite hitters like Corey Seager to chase up and out of the zone. Nasty!
Zack Greinke’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/harmoniousesteemedbighorn
Zack Greinke Forever! That’s what the new t-shirts from Pitcher List should read in my opinion. The veteran Royals wizard was excellent through six strong innings, striking out five before getting into some trouble. This luscious slow 73 mph curveball was far too crafty for Byron Buxton.
Sonny Gray’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/unfitinexperiencedjackrabbit
Sonny Gray painting the corner of the strike zone with lethal two-seam fastballs, have you heard this one before? The Twins ace was excellent in his team’s 9-0 demolition of the Royals, striking out 10 including Michael A. Taylor with this 92 mph sinker.
Charlie Morton’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/identicallazyflyinglemur
The Charlie Morton experience has been a mixed bag in Atlanta this year; however, today he pitched a beauty. The veteran notched up 12 strikeouts, including this delightful 86 mph changeup to fell Brandon Nimmo, on his way to a 5-0 victory, his sixth of the year.
Alek Manoah’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/warlikerewardingaztecant
The big man looked to be on a roll in Toronto, striking out seven through four innings before falling into trouble in the fifth. Alek Manoah failed to land his pitches late in this outing, something he had no trouble with earlier in the contest. Odd. Still, we were treated to this blinder – 95 mph sinker with movement inside then away from Terrin Vavra.
Sean Manaea’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/ancientcapitalintermediateegret
The art of the sinker is perfectly demonstrated here by Padres lefty Sean Manaea, who rung up rookie JJ Bleday with a perfectly placed 89 mph two-seamer that shows elite late movement back inside to give the umpire all the reasons to call strike three. A thing of beauty.
Edward Cabrera’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/imperturbablethinadouri
Young Miami Marlins starlet Edward Cabrera found himself pitching into trouble for much of his outing against the Padres, however, as is often a sign for a promising arm he managed to grit it out and work his way out of it. He also struck out seven in just four innings of work – his best was this devastating 83 mph changeup to fell Jake Cronenworth.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)