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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Charlie Morton’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/theseunlinedbinturong
Charlie Morton matched up against his old mates the Rays and pitched well before Atlanta’s bullpen fell apart and cost him the chance at a win. Morton got eight strikeouts primarily with his fastball, but Morton also brought his old friend Uncle Charlie with him yesterday and he made hitters look silly with him.
César Valdez’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/inexperiencedchubbyboaconstrictor
César Valdez had a great April before his balloon burst between injuries and a stretch of ineffectiveness, to put it lightly. Valdez looked more like he did in April last night against the Royals and of course that means his changeup was juking and diving like this one to get Carlos Santana swinging.
Lance McCullers Jr.’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/shinyadmiredcurlew
Lance McCullers Jr. was king of the mountain last night allowing only four baserunners against the formidable White Sox lineup while striking out ten. McCullers Jr. used a tight slider as his primary out pitch like this one to Tim Anderson.
Emmanuel Clase’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/thisfatkakapo
Unfortunately for Emmanuel Clase, after laying off this hundred MPH cutter on the outside corner Elvis Andrus hit a single and Jed Lowrie later drove him in with a walk-off HR. Such is the life of a closer. Clase wasn’t bad, but a single and a blast and he now has a blown save and a loss on his stat sheet.
Aroldis Chapman’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/unrealisticimmediatehoiho
This splitter was the only good one Aroldis Chapman threw last night. Chapman came in for a low leverage opportunity with the Yankees down four runs in the ninth so Chapman can get his feet wet after imploding before the break and taking a timeout. Chapman overall was far from reassuring though he only allowed one baserunner and no runs.
Dylan Cease’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/merryinbornaldabratortoise
Dylan Cease has been able to mix in a slower curveball along with a passable changeup to keep hitters off-balance. Cease throws in the upper nineties consistently and still has his finisher slurve/slider so he doesn’t need more than respectability from his third or fourth offering to miss a ton of bats.
Eduardo Rodriguez’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/dismaljadedfattaileddunnart
Eduardo Rodriguez pitched exquisitely against the feeble quad-A Yankees lineup weakened by COVID-19 forced absence led by Aaron Judge. Rodriguez placed this cutter perfectly on, or maybe just off, the outside black and froze Trey Amburgey in his major league debut.
Tanner Houck’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/inconsequentialpepperyimpala
Tanner Houck got the save last night pitching the last three innings with nary a hiccup. Houck relied on his mid-nineties sinker with movement that compares to some pitchers’ changeups.
Brad Brach’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/imperfectsizzlingbandicoot
Brad Brach had a stretch of bad outings before the All-Star break but was able to get back on track last night. Brach has to get movement on his changeup because the speed differential between his fastball and his changeup is low. Brach did just that last night finishing Avisaíl Garcia using a well-placed changeup with good movement.
Andre Scrubb’s Knuckle-Curve
https://gfycat.com/adolescentmixedgrayling
This Knuckle-Curve from Andre Scrubb backs up on him a little bit, but I’m a sucker for a slow-motion shot of a hammer curveball.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)