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!

 

Tom Seaver’s Filth

 

https://gfycat.com/unequaledchubbydachshund

 

In honor of the passing of Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver, I thought it would be cool to lead off with something from his repertoire for those of us who aren’t old enough to remember watching him pitch. I’ve admittedly seen very little Tom Seaver footage until today, and this particular pitch stood out to me. While the offering looks like a changeup that tails away from the batter as it drops out of the zone, after a bit of research I found that Seaver didn’t actually have a changeup in his repertoire. The broadcast called this pitch a cut fastball but it looks a bit too slow to be a fastball, unless he took a lot off of it as if it were some sort of quasi-changeup.

I reached out to our resident baseball historian, Mat Kovach, who did some digging himself and concluded that this is most likely a slider. Why a slider? Well, this pitch was thrown on an unknown date while Seaver was in a White Sox uniform, which was at the tail end of his career between 1984-1986. Mat surmises that at this point in his career, Seaver was experienced enough to take a bit of gas off his slider in order to get the movement we see here. It’s a nasty pitch, and since we’re not 100% sure what it is we are going to officially classify it as “Filth”. (Shoutout PL+ member Neil Vita for the idea to include Seaver in today’s Nastiest Pitches)

 

Clayton Kershaw’s Curveball

 

https://gfycat.com/openessentialcarpenterant

 

Kershaw’s curveball should be depicted on a spacecraft (similar to Voyager’s Golden Record) and sent out into the outer limits of our solar system, just so the memory of this phenomenal pitch will live on forever. In this week’s iteration of Curveshaw, the pitch notches the 2,500th strikeout of his career. He would later pass Christy Mathewson for the 39th most Ks in his career and the accolade train just keeps on chugging. Man, are his starts fun to watch or what?

 

Edwin Díaz’s Fastball

 

https://gfycat.com/directfancyblackfly

 

The pitch immediately after this one was also seriously considered for this spot, but it was foul tipped into the mitt and didn’t have quite as much horizontal movement to it as this one does. This pitch completely fools Tyler Wade as it starts off looking like a bean ball before dancing its’ way back over the plate. Edwin Díaz would go on to earn the win in this one after J.D. Davis tied the game in the bottom of the ninth to force extras.

 

Adam Ottavino’s Slider

 

https://gfycat.com/ecstaticsatisfiedalaskajingle

 

Another Nastiest Pitches article, and yet another Adam Ottavino slider. We’ve all seen this song and dance before and there’s nothing more that can be said about the pitch that hasn’t been said before. Just sit back and enjoy the filth.

 

Zack Greinke’s Curveball

 

https://gfycat.com/disastrouscomplicatedblueshark

 

Zack Greinke is a 1st ballot Hall of Famer. That’s it. That’s the blurb.

 

Zach Eflin’s Sinker

 

https://gfycat.com/responsibleclosedamericancreamdraft

 

Ahhh. A perfectly located sinker is such a beautiful pitch. This one from Zach Eflin paints the corner perfectly to strike out Victor Robles looking. Eflin pitched six innings on Thursday but allowed seven hits and four runs over that time, including an inside-the-park home run to the speedy Trea Turner. It was a forgettable outing for Eflin but at least the outing gave us this pitch to drool over.

 

Lance Lynn’s Slider

 

https://gfycat.com/disastrousbaggyandeancondor

 

Lance Lynn struck out seven over six innings on Thursday but he gave up six runs along the way to earn the loss. It was definitely not the best day for him but he did have a good feel for his sliders and slung a few really nice ones. This one was the best of the bunch as it dropped completely out of the zone and hit the catcher’s spot perfectly. Even on a bad day, Lance Lynn is fun to watch.

 

Andrew Heaney’s Curveball

 

https://gfycat.com/idledearestaustralianshelduck

 

This Andrew Heaney curveball was his best of the night, and while his stuff wasn’t overpowering it still did the trick. He left a ton of fastballs out over the plate but luckily most of them were hit foul (a total of 2o), and all those fouls drove up his pitch count in an otherwise solid outing. This pitch was a good ol’ fashioned whiff by the rookie Jake Cronenworth.

 

Martín Pérez’s Changeup

 

https://gfycat.com/tornonlyeskimodog

 

Martín Pérez pitched 6.2 innings on Thursday, giving up one run while striking out five in a solid outing where he didn’t allow a hit until the 6th inning rolled around. He then started to unravel, giving up a hit on the first at bat of the inning only to ultimately give up a run later on. For a guy who looked completely lost on the mound earlier in the season, he’s actually looked pretty good of late and has only given up more than three runs in a game twice on the year. The changeup was his most utilized pitch on the night, and while the results weren’t always great this one was still good enough to recognize here.