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!
Sandy Alcantara’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/impassionedpossiblejanenschia
Sandy Alcantara threw six strong innings, but may have been left in a few batters too long as he allowed two baserunners to begin the seventh before the Marlins’ bullpen took over and imploded. Atlanta scored six runs in the bottom of the seventh to take NLDS game one. Alcantara struck out eight over his six plus innings, coupling his high nineties fastball with his low nineties changeup. He ended the fifth with a 94 MPH changeup with a ton of movement to strikeout Ozzie Albies.
Framber Valdez’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/disgustingthosegrison
The A’s now find themselves in a 2-0 deficit to the Astros. Despite a mostly uninspiring regular season, the Astros have looked strong early on in the playoffs, winning their first four games. Framber Valdez has been a steady presence in the Astros’ rotation all season and has two strong playoff starts as well. Valdez displayed his strong curveball all day, but froze Ramon Laureano with a well-placed sinker for the second out of the fifth.
Mike Minor’s Knuckle-Curve
https://gfycat.com/cornyconcretekodiakbear
Oakland led off with Sean Manaea, but utilized a number of pitchers on Tuesday. Mike Minor was the third pitcher used and produced two shutout innings. His lone strikeout of the day came against Carlos Correa, as he sent him down with a nice back foot breaking ball.
Tyler Glasnow’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/elaborateuniformalaskanmalamute
Other than a long home run to Giancarlo Stanton, Tyler Glasnow turned in a strong start as the Rays evened up the ALDS with the Yankees. Glasnow racked up ten strikeouts through his five-plus innings of work including this strikeout of Aaron Judge in the fifth.
Diego Castillo’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/scornfulcarefulharrier
Diego Castillo relieved Glasnow in the sixth and turned in a scoreless inning of his own. Here he showed off his 98 MPH sinker with a ridiculous amount of movement to handcuff Luke Voit and get the whiff.
Walker Buehler’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/hastyanyindiancow
Walker Buehler did not have his best stuff for game one of the NLDS as he struggled with command for most of his short outing. He did pick up eight strikeouts, like this one of Eric Hosmer to end the third. (h/t to PL+ member AetherJ)
Blake Treinen’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/tatteredeageriridescentshark
Eric Hosmer ended up on the wrong side of two nasty pitches tonight. After starting Hosmer off with fastballs, Blake Treinen doubled up on sliders low and in, getting Hosmer to swing over the top of both of them to pick up the strikeout.