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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Alek Manoah’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/alivewholeamethystinepython
Alek Manoah had a rematch against the Rays lineup last night and he displayed the premium stuff that allowed him to dominate the Rays hitters last week. Unfortunately, Manoah was not quite as sharp as last week, and while he struck out nine, he was chased from the game in the fourth inning with his pitch count in the upper eighties. The lateral movement Manoah gets on his slider is ridiculous.
Jonathan Loaisiga’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/lazynaughtyarcticfox
Jonathan Loaisiga entered the game in the ninth inning to complete the Yankees shutout of the Astros. Loaisiga misses his spot on this sinker, but nasty stuff beats location more often than not, and Yordan Alvarez flinched at a hundred miles per hour up and in to finish the game.
Charlie Morton’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/anyslushygroundbeetle
Charlie Morton keeps getting older, but his stuff seems just as good as it has looked since Morton’s midcareer renaissance began in Tampa Bay. Morton’s curve is a prime example of depth and tilt on a breaking ball.
JT Brubaker’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/smartfreshalleycat
Dom Smith was not happy about this call, but JT Brubaker’s sinker appears to come back to the strike zone just enough before reaching the plate. Front-door two-seamers/sinkers are sneaky.
José Alvarado’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/warmheartedwelloffgoldeneye
José Alvarado displayed his Jekyll & Hyde persona last night against the Red Sox. When Alvarado can command his arsenal hitters have a difficult time making hard contact, but too often Alvarado seems to be hoping to throw a strike. The velocity on Alvarado’s cutter/slider is top-notch and the lateral movement on the pitch avoids contact well.
Kenta Maeda’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/tallsmallamericanwirehair
The late movement on Kenta Maeda’s splitter is like a bowling ball rolling off the end of a table. Maeda’s splitter reminds me of Shohei Ohtani’s splitter, though of course Ohtani’s is better.
Joe Kelly’s Knuckle-Curve
https://gfycat.com/scaredeverlastingindianringneckparakeet
Joe Kelly spots his nasty breaking ball at the bottom of the zone perfectly on this pitch as Preston Smith is left frozen. Kelly’s curve is stupendous when he can command it.
Wade Miley’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/adoreddimhalibut
Wade Miley seems to have taken to the Reds’ pitching program under Kyle Boddy of Driveline Baseball renown. Miley is an example of the modern soft tosser still getting it done in today’s big velocity, big breaking ball environment.
Mychal Givens‘ Four-Seam Fastball
https://gfycat.com/plaintivecheerfuljaguarundi
Mychal Givens vanquished Fernando Tatís Jr. with this fastball right on the outside black. The slow-motion shot gives a nice view of the “rise” on the pitch that was too close for Tatís to take.
Rafael Dolis‘ Splitter
https://gfycat.com/singleeasygoingamericanpainthorse
Dolis has been an inconsistent option in the abhorrent Blue Jays bullpen. When Dolis is on, his stuff is good enough to pitch high leverage innings. His bread and butter strikeout pitch is a nice splitter that dives out of the zone.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)