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!
Max Scherzer’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/leadingobesedaddylonglegs
Vintage Max Scherzer was on the mound Friday night, and his 10 strikeouts helped him eclipse Cy Young with the 22nd most strikeouts in MLB history. Scherzer still has some gas in the tank and he should keep rising up that list over the next few years.
Walker Buehler’s Knuckle-Curve
https://gfycat.com/idioticsizzlinghoneycreeper
Walker Buehler didn’t factor into the decision in this one as Dodgers vs. Padres Round 1 went into the 12th inning and past 3am Eastern on the night. Buehler hasn’t quite been himself so far in the short season and wasn’t particularly sharp once again, but he still limited the Padres to two runs in six innings. He’s an ace for a reason, folks.
Willians Astudillo’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/respectfuldisguisedarizonaalligatorlizard
H*ck yeah, this pitch is nasty! Luis Rengifo stood frozen in place as this airbender zoomed past him. I asked our PL+ Discord what this pitch should be classified as and here were some of the responses:
“Studball”
“Tortuball”
“Turtleball”
“The Scuffy McGee”
“Pokeball”
“The Speed Limit”
And my favorite, “The Minnesota Mystery”
Astudillo would end up pitching a perfect inning and even hit 72 on the gun at one point. Have I mentioned that baseball is fun yet? Cause baseball is fun.
Dennis Santana’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/repentantblushingalligator
After hitting Jorge Mateo in the bottom of the 10th inning (and subsequently blowing a kiss his way), Dennis Santana unleashed this gorgeous changeup that fooled Victor Caratini. This was an awesome game that kept me awake way longer than it should have.
Caleb Theilbar’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/coordinatedveneratedadder
MEAT RAFFLE! This spin-o-rama to Shohei Ohtani was really his best pitch of the night, as he went on to give up a grand slam to Justin Upton and another home run to Jared Walsh later in the inning. As PL+ member Bustercat put it, there were meatballs on the menu for Meat Raffle on Friday. For those who aren’t aware, Caleb Theilbar’s nickname is Meat Raffle (for unknown reasons), and this bad outing wasn’t enough for us Meat Raffle stans to jump off the hype train. We still have a long season ahead of us, so jump on the fun while you can.
César Valdez’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/scaryniftyflamingo
César Valdez came in and earned yet another save for the Orioles on Friday night. His changeup has been mystifying hitters often in this young season and this one in particular fell completely off the face of the earth at the last second. Nasty stuff.
Zach Eflin’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/messyexhaustedindri
Zach Eflin earned the win with a solid seven innings of two-run baseball Friday night, striking out six including this one to Paul DeJong to end his night. Eflin had the slider working to the tune of a 43% CSW on 28 thrown. Fantastic stuff.
Randy Dobnak’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/adoredfantasticchital
It’s not a flaming dart of a sinker like Jordan Hicks or Blake Treinen, but this sinker from Randy Dobnak was perfectly located and still had plenty of filthy movement.
Devin Williams’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/granularamusingarrowcrab
It’s a day of the week? Check. Devin Williams threw a nasty changeup? Check. Seems about right.
Michael King’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/eminentgleefulleveret
I won’t mention the fact that this Michael King sinker should have been called a strike, but check out the amount of horizontal break this thing got! Unreal. Brandon Lowe got away with a pretty questionable take.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)