Every morning, the We Love Baseball crew reviews the Nastiest Pitches from the previous day’s games. If you see something you think should be included here be sure to tweet @PitcherList to let us know. Or, if you’re a PL+ Member and part of our Discord, shout it out in the Nastiest Pitches channel.
Zack Wheeler’s Splitter
A thing of beauty is a thing of beauty, always. Zack Wheeler and his dominance as one of the best pitchers in baseball continued with seven and a third innings of shutout baseball. It was majestic. This 87 mph split-finger fastball with zesty movement to strike out Andrew Vaughn deserves to headline this article.
Corbin Burnes‘ Changeup
We didn’t quite get the pitching matchup we hoped for with Corbin Burnes going up against Cole Ragans. Ragans was knocked for seven runs in the second inning and exited the game. Burnes was as advertised, however, rolling through the Royals at will – this phenomenal 89 mph changeup with ridiculous run was a wow moment watched live.
Zac Gallen’s Knuckle-Curveball
Zac Gallen took the loss against the Giants after making a mistake in the fifth inning with the game tied 3-3. Prior to that, he had used his nasty knuckle-curveball to full effect. Michael Conforto was made to look silly by this 80 mph 12-6 beauty.
Kutter Crawford’s Splitter
Young Red Sox starlet Kutter Crawford escaped jams in the fourth and fifth innings on his way to his first win of the season. Crawford struck out six over as many frames and needed his split-finger fastball to get out of the fifth with the bases loaded – a beautiful 82 mph splitter to get Jack Suwinski.
Ronel Blanco’s Changeup
He is the sensational news story of the season so far and Ronel Blanco was dealing with his changeup in the Astro’s calamitous defeat by the Nationals. Blanco struck out six with four coming by way of his change – veteran Joey Gallo was completely bamboozled by this 86 mph dropping out of the zone.
Jesús Luzardo’s Slider
It’s always a good weekend when Jesús Luzardo has command of his signature slider. Luzardo started on fire and Nico Hoerner had no chance with this 86 mph hard slider with vicious movement.
Javier Assad’s Sinker
As far as two-seam fastballs go, you won’t get much better than this piece of art from Cubs starter Javier Assad. A quiet assassin for the Cubs over the past year, Assad has blossomed into a reliable starter. The quality of movement on this 93 mph sinker is a big reason why. Nick Fortes was questioning his life decisions after this one.
Bailey Ober’s Changeup
Ok, phew! Bailey Ober had us worried after a disastrous first start of the campaign but since then he’s allowed just two runs across three starts with 16 strikeouts. This filthy 85 mph changeup to dispose of rookie Colt Keith was a gem.
Nestor Cortes‘ Cutter
We got a fabulous pitching duel in the first game of the day with the Yankees and Rays battling out a scoreless game until extra innings. Nestor Cortes was commanding on the mound for New York, and the location of this nasty 88 mph cutter to strike out the dangerous Randy Arozarena was just perfect.
Zach Eflin’s Curveball
Opposite to Cortes was Rays ace Zach Eflin, who has struggled so far this season but produced six shutout frames, allowing just three hits and striking out six. Eflin struck out Aaron Judge three times, twice on the curveball and you can see why – the bottom dropping out of this devastating 79 mph effort.
Photos courtesy of Icon Sportswire
Adapted by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram