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.
Griffin Jax’s Sinker
We begin today’s installment of Nastiest Pitches with back-to-back pitches from Griffin Jax. Jax has been an elite reliever for the Twins this season, and this 98 MPH demon sinker is a great example of why.
Griffin Jax’s Sweeper
The very next pitch from Jax was this gross sweeper that fell off the plate at the very last moment. It had Alex Bregman completely fooled.
Edward Cabrera’s Changeup
Edward Cabrera returned from the injured list on Sunday, and while he allowed two runs in his 3.2 innings of work, it was still an overall positive outing as he flashed his upside as a whiff machine with a 40% whiff rate. His changeup returned a 38% CSW with eight whiffs, and there were a number of nasty ones to choose from for this piece.
José Berríos‘ Slurve
This back foot slurve completely eats up J.P. Crawford. Berrios shined through six innings on Sunday before coming back out for the 7th and spoiling the outing by allowing three earned, but the stuff was moving all day anyway.
Tyler Phillips‘ Changeup
Shoutout Tyler Phillips, who struck out the first four batters he faced out of the ‘pen in his major league debut. He wound up striking out seven overall, a phenomenal performance that will turn a lot of heads. The Phillies might have something in Phillips.
Justin Wrobleski’s Slider
Moving on to another major league debut, Justin Wrobleski started strong in his, dishing out this phenomenal back door slider for the backwards K to end the 2nd inning. However, he would go on to allow four earned runs in five innings against the 1st place Brewers.
Tarik Skubal’s Changeup
That’s the face of a man who dominated seven innings to the tune of 13 strikeouts on the day. It was an unbelievable performance from the AL Cy Young front runner.
Reynaldo López’s Slider
Speaking of Cy Young contenders, Reynaldo López and his 1.71 ERA leads the league by over 50 points. He shined once again on Sunday, striking out six over as many strong innings.
Kyle Gibson’s Sweeper
Kyle Gibson pitched a decent outing on Sunday, allowing three earned runs while striking out eight. It was a WHIP nightmare, however, as he allowed 11 base runners in five innings. Trey Lipscomb was not one of them as he struck out in both of his at bats against Gibson.
George Kirby’s Splitter
Finally, George Kirby’s splitter did magical things in this at bat vs Justin Turner. Turner had no shot at making contact with this pitch that moved a ton on the inside of the plate.
Photos courtesy of Icon Sportswire
Adapted by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram