Julio Urías’ Curveball and the Nastiest Pitches from 10/24

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!

 

Julio Urías‘ Curveball

 

https://gfycat.com/oldfashionedangelicallensbigearedbat

 

Julio Urías struck out 9 batters in 4.2 innings last night, but he did allow two costly home runs. He had a ridiculous 34/80 CSW on the night, good for 43% overall, in a game he didn’t quite dominate but still had a ton of success in. Remember when Urías was the no-doubt #1 prospect in the game? Pepperidge Farm remembers, and he’s now one of LA’s best arms.

 

Diego Castillo’s Sinker

 

https://gfycat.com/responsibleinbornbighorn

 

This filthy 97 MPH sinker from Diego Castillo earned a big strikeout against Cody Bellinger. Castillo has arguably been the Rays’ most reliable player not named Randy Arozarena, as his 1.86 ERA in 9.2 innings of work this season have been one of the reasons why the Rays are currently in this position. I’m sure we’ll see plenty more of Castillo over the next few days.

 

Pedro Báez’s Changeup

 

https://gfycat.com/hauntingdimpledichthyosaurs

 

So there weren’t a ton of nasty pitches on Saturday night. It was an insanely fun offensive slugfest with good stretches of pitching at times, but not too many moments of WOW for our purposes. This was a really nice changeup by Pedro Báez in an at-bat that resulted in a three-run home run by Brandon Lowe. It’s a nice pitch, with great location, perfectly executed to get the result Baez wanted.

 

Ryan Thompson’s Slider

 

https://gfycat.com/uglysphericalkingfisher

 

We finish today’s installment of nastiest pitches with a nasty slider from Ryan Thompson to get a big strikeout in the 4th inning. After an A.J. Pollock double, Thompson was brought in to get out of the jam and he did so with two outs in five pitches. The slider starts off inside the plate and ends up way outside, and Chris Taylor had no idea what to do with it. Great stuff from Thompson.