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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Luis Castillo’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/VacantReliableDuckling
This whole year has been a big mess for Luis Castillo. The Reds’ righty has struggled mightily and he picked up his tenth loss of the year yesterday. However, yesterday was actually a solid outing for Castillo. He struck out seven over six quality innings. Here he uses a filthy changeup to put away Victor Caratini on strikes.
Shane McClanahan’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/OblongUncommonHadrosaurus
Shane McClanahan pitched wonderfully on the mound for the Rays yesterday, tossing six innings of one run ball and striking out eight. McClanahan has some filthy breaking stuff as he utilized both his slider and curveball very well. Here we’re going with the slider and it’s a filthy one. It comes in at what can only be described as deGrom-esque velocity, touching 94 mph to get Mitch Haniger swinging.
Craig Kimbrel’s Fastball
https://gfycat.com/DirectWeakAmericanwigeon
Craig Kimbrel struck out two of the three hitters he faced on Sunday afternoon as he closed out a Cubs shutout of the Marlins. Here Kimbrel finishes the game on a fastball that flies right by the bat of Jesús Sánchez for strike three.
Adam Wainwright’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/FairExhaustedIcefish
In game one of the Braves-Cardinals doubleheader, Adam Wainwright pitched masterfully. He went the distance and tossed a 111 pitch complete game (albeit in seven innings). Waino struck out 11, and as always, his filthiest stuff came from his curveball. Here he bends one past William Contreras who goes down to one knee on the pitch.
Dinelson Lamet’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/ChiefPleasantHorsechestnutleafminer
It seems like Dinelson Lamet is finally close to being fully back. Yesterday he threw 81 pitches over five innings and struck out seven. Lamet brought his ERA on the season down to 2.81 and picked up his second win. Here he throws a fantastic slider past Eugenio Suárez, who swings right through the filthy pitch.
Dallas Keuchel’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/MeagerShortDesertpupfish
Dallas Keuchel and the White Sox got shelled yesterday by the Astros’ bats. Keuchel allowed six runs (three ER) over his 2.2 innings on the mound. However, it wasn’t all that bad for Keuchel. Here he gets one of his three strikeouts of the day, on a wicked changeup that he throws by Michael Brantley.
Zach Thompson’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/IdealAnxiousAbyssiniangroundhornbill
Marlins’ pitcher Zach Thompson pitched as well as he could yesterday, throwing four no-hit innings against a potent Cubs lineup. However, three walks and a Marlins error left him on the hook for one run and the loss. Still, Thompson managed seven Ks over four frames, including this one, a nasty hook that gets Sergio Alcántara swinging.
Taijuan Walker’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/ComplicatedGleefulDunlin
Taijuan Walker looked like he was in a bit of a funk yesterday on the mound, but considering the season he’s had so far, any slip-up seems bad. Walker pitched six innings and struck out five, but also allowed ten hits. Still, he managed to limit the damage to just three runs to notch a quality start. Here Walker freezes Trea Turner on a back door sinker that paints the outside corner.
JT Brubaker’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/ajarbesteelelephant
Finally today, we’ve got JT Brubaker and his filthy slider. The Pirates don’t have a lot to look forward to, but having Brubaker pitch every fifth day is a true gift for the struggling franchise. Brubaker struck out nine yesterday and his filthiest pitch came here on a nasty slider that got Ryan Lavarnway swinging.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)