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!
Kutter Crawford’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/unfinishedshimmeringafricanfisheagle
The Red Sox used an opener on Monday as they continue to shuffle their pitching staff while dealing with a number of issues to their starting rotation. Kutter Crawford was the bulk man and performed admirably, tossing five shutout innings while fanning eight. True to his name, he used his cutter often and struck out Francisco Mejía on a great one.
Josh Fleming’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/inbornmintybunting
Boston’s opponent, the Rays, used the same opener approach on Monday, with Josh Fleming taking the bulk role. He too went for five innings and tallied four strikeouts along the way. He tied up Franchy Cordero on a well-located sinker down and in.
Justin Steele’s Four-Seam Fastball
https://gfycat.com/dearestfewannelida
Victor Caratini struck out in each of his first four at-bats in Monday’s game, but would eventually get the last laugh when he launched a three-run walk-off homer. Justin Steele accounted for three of those strikeouts and knotted up the Brewers’ catcher with a four-seamer way inside.
Carlos Rodón’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/deliciousmajorborzoi
Carlos Rodón wasn’t at his sharpest Monday as the lefty allowed a pair of runs in each of the first two innings. He avoided further damage in the first by putting away Carson Kelly with a sweeping slider low and in.
Taijuan Walker’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/opulentperfectgrassspider
Taijuan Walker is off to a hot start in his second season in Queens. His K rate is down a bit from his career average, but he helped bump that number back up on Monday after picking up nine strikeouts on the afternoon. He ended his outing with a great running fastball that froze Mike Moustakas.
Kyle Wright’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/adorablecoordinatedfruitfly
Kyle Wright would need only three pitches to record his first strikeout but would go on to only record one more over the rest of his outing. He ended Tommy Edman’s leadoff at-bat with a fantastic breaking ball below the zone.
Jhoan Duran’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/elasticgrippinghomalocephale
Jhoan Duran continues to be filthy in every appearance he makes, and that trend continued Monday as Duran closed out the Twins’ win with a pair of strikeouts. Duran set up Tim Anderson with a 100 MPH fastball above the zone only to get back-to-back whiffs on breaking balls in the dirt.
Dylan Bundy’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/crazyfickleacornbarnacle
Dylan Bundy started for the Twins Monday and continued his string of recent success. He allowed only a single earned run for the third time in four starts and picked up six K’s, his highest total in nearly a month. Three of the six came on changeups, and this one to Leury García may have been his best.
Alek Manoah’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/fantasticsecondhanddrongo
Alek Manoah was hurt by a big first inning and was tagged with only his third loss of the season Monday night in Oakland. Four of his five punchouts came on the slider while the last one came on this sinker that rode up and in on Ramón Laureano.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)