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!
Max Fried’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/HarmlessIncomparableErne
Max Fried did not get as many strikeouts as he would’ve liked yesterday, but it was certainly a solid start for the Braves’ southpaw. Fried tossed seven innings of one-run ball, but only notched two strikeouts in the scorecard. Here Fried uses a fantastic curve that he bends across the plate to fan Ildemaro Vargas. Watch the late drop it gets on the slo-mo, because it’s truly something to behold.
Cody Poteet’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/FrailFavorableAuklet
Cody Poteet has been solid since he was called up a few weeks back, and yesterday he had his best start yet. Poteet threw seven scoreless innings against an anemic Mets offense, but don’t let that detract from Poteet’s success on the mound. He looked in command all afternoon, especially with his changeup, which he utilized here to put away Khalil Lee for one of his four Ks of the game.
Hyun Jin Ryu’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/UncommonWarlikeBluebottlejellyfish
Hyun Jin Ryu was out on the mound yesterday, and he pitched great against the Rays. He struck out seven over 6.2 innings and only allowed two runs to score. Ryu was in command of his whole arsenal, featuring each of his four pitches (fastball, change, slider, curve) across his seven Ks. Here though, we tip our hats to this filthy curve that drops on Austin Meadows, who swings and misses for strike three.
Yu Darvish’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/PeacefulRigidCranefly
Yu Darvish continued his dominant season yesterday with a fantastic one-run outing against the Mariners. Darvish only struck out five, but when you’re making outs like Darvish has been doing, you don’t really mind that. He lowered his ERA to an impressive 1.75 and picked up his fifth win on the season. Here he is painting the inside edge with a filthy sinker that freezes Donovan Walton for a called strike three.
Freddy Peralta’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/PowerfulWhiteGeese
Freddy Peralta had himself an okay day on the mound. It was a short outing for Peralta, who was pulled after getting his pitch count above 100 with only 4.2 innings under his belt. Peralta, whose strikeout numbers have been great, was able to fan seven hitters over that span, including Eugenio Suárez who went down on swinging on this mean slider.
Julio Urías‘ Curveball
https://gfycat.com/VengefulNaturalAphid
Julio Urías cruised through a game that the Dodgers absolutely dominated early on, with 10 runs of support coming in the first three innings. Urías was able to pitch effectively with 10 strikeouts over his six innings on the mound, and here he uses a filthy curve to freeze Curt Casali for a pitch that paints the lower edge of the zone.
Zack Wheeler’s Fastball
https://gfycat.com/SardonicAstonishingIndochinesetiger
Zack Wheeler had a dominant start on the mound yesterday, tossing 7.1 innings and striking out a dozen hitters. Wheeler only allowed one run and four players to reach base all day, so as you may have guessed, there were plenty of filthy choices to go with. Ultimately, I settled on his first K of the day, a blazing fast 98 mph heater that darts past Danny Santana.
Justin Dunn’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/MintyBowedCaterpillar
Coming back to the Padres-Mariners game, we feature the other half of the pitching battle. Justin Dunn also had himself a solid outing for his team, before the bullpen lost control of the game in the sixth. He struck out four and brought his ERA down to 3.40. Here he tosses a nasty slider past Tommy Pham that dots the corner perfectly.
J.A. Happ’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/NervousGentleBedlingtonterrier
Finally this morning, we’ve got J.A. Happ, whose stat line from yesterday is a bit out of the ordinary. Happ allowed four runs over six innings, as well as eight hits, but he also struck out 10 hitters, so you could certainly say it was a mixed bag. Here he throws a wicked curve that brings Austin Hedges down to his knee for a nasty strike three.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)