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.
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Shane Greene’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/animatedvillainousdodo
Shane Greene closed out a 7-0 win for Atlanta on Thursday, propelling the Braves to the NLCS for the first time since 2001. This filthy slider to Miguel Rojas was the icing on the cake on a fantastic series for Braves’ pitchers, who have only allowed a run in three of the 49 innings the team has played this postseason. They’ll have a tough test ahead of them against a dangerous Dodgers team.
Sixto Sanchez’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/thankfulcorruptestuarinecrocodile
This was not Sixto Sanchez’s day. He got out of the 1st inning after only five pitches and looked like he was primed for a long outing, but he couldn’t buy a strike in the next two innings as he got pulled after the third. His fastball and sinker kept missing the zone, which made it difficult to use the changeup off of them for whiffs like this one against Dansby Swanson. This was really the only changeup he threw that was worth mentioning, but hoo boy was it a doozy. I think we’re all looking forward to see what Sixto can do in 2021.
Ryan Thompson’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/darlingpointlesschimpanzee
Ryan Thompson was the opener in this one for Tampa Bay, allowing two runs over 1.2 innings of work. Our own Alex Fast posted this gnarly GIF overlay of Thompson prior to the game, and it got me hyped to see what Thompson could do. This pitch to Aaron Judge was well worth tuning in for. We’ve got a Game 5 for us on Friday that is going to be must-see TV.
Julio Urias’ Curveball
https://gfycat.com/jovialshamefulagouti
Julio Urias came on in relief on and threw five stellar innings en route to a blowout victory against the Padres. This filthy curveball completely froze Trent Grisham, and the pitch had a solid 39% CSW on the night. The Dodgers are locked and loaded and are ready for their NLCS matchup with Atlanta.
Frankie Montas‘ Slider
https://gfycat.com/colossalshockingkatydid
Frankie Montas got lit up in this one, allowing five runs on seven hits over 3.2 innings. He used the slider 34% of the time with only a 25% CSW, but this one was good enough to make George Springer look absolutely silly.
Sixto Sanchez’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/lastremarkableacaciarat
I mentioned earlier that Sixto was very wild in this one and had a tough time hitting the zone. Well, it’s true, but there were a few occasions where he missed his spot and still threw a nasty pitch for a strike, and this is one of them. The catcher, Chad Wallach, wanted this ball down, and Sixto misses middle-in but the movement on this 99 MPH sinker was still fantastic.
Kyle Wright’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/dappertepidbarasinga
Kyle Wright was probably the best pitcher of the day, throwing six innings of three-hit ball and earning seven strikeouts along the way. His breaking stuff was filthy, earning a 52% CSW on the curveball and 47% CSW on the slider. This nasty curveball fell just below the zone, in basically the same spot he attacked Aguilar the entire at-bat with sinkers and sliders. If Wright can continue this success against the Dodgers, look out.