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!
Jhoan Duran’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/positivegrandioseafricanelephant
On the Red Sox broadcast, Dennis Eckersley couldn’t believe what he was seeing as he watched Jhoan Duran pitch. A 98 MPH splitter is truly revolutionary, let alone one with this much movement. Move over, Blake Treinen; Duran now has the nastiest pitch in baseball.
Miguel Castro’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/thoroughsentimentalasiaticmouflon
Miguel Castro’s slider is one of the filthiest pitches in the league on a yearly basis at this point, and this is one of the best I’ve ever seen from him. It actually hit Anthony Santander on the back of his left calf, but even Santander was too mesmerized by this pitch to notice at the moment. Disgusting. (H/t PL+ member Mike Perugini)
Trevor Richards‘ Changeup
https://gfycat.com/insistentenviousargali
The results aren’t quite there yet for Trevor Richards this season, but his changeup has all the makings of a filthy out pitch. A 30.8% CSW on the year so far is a solid number for a secondary pitch. He just needs to work on better locating his fastball in order to set up the changeup to let it do its thing. You’re on my radar, Trevor.
Jeurys Familia’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/grayringedarthropods
Jeurys Familia’s demon sinker is back, making NL East hitters look silly. This pitch looks middle-middle for the first 40 feet through the air before exploding downward at the last second. Straight. Up. Filth.
Austin Davis‘ Slider
https://gfycat.com/softmellowcygnet
The Red Sox are desperate for effective bullpen arms, and they’re hoping that Austin Davis can be relied upon to get them some innings early on in the season. Well, he may have given up a run yesterday, but he had a 52% CSW overall and a 50% CSW on his slider alone. That’ll play, Austin. (H/t PL+ member nvita)
Jonathan Loáisiga’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/cheapunfoldeddassie
The second-best pitch in this Orioles-Yankees game was this nasty 99 MPH sinker from Jonathan Loáisiga that started middle in and ended up nearly six inches off the plate. I would swing at that pitch 100 out of 100 times.
Aaron Bummer’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/bogusbeautifulgoa
We’ve seen this time and time again from Aaron Bummer, yet it never gets old. This pitch had a ridiculous 16 inches of horizontal break, though Bummer’s arm angle makes it look much more than that to opposing hitters. (H/t PL+ member Max Cardoso)
Luis García’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/glamorousbrokengreyhounddog
The other Luis García made an appearance on Friday night, dishing out this filthy 98 MPH backdoor sinker that made Travis d’Arnaud look absolutely silly.
Pablo López’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/deadyellowasianwaterbuffalo
I hoped this pitch would have a slo-mo on the broadcast as soon as I saw it, but we, unfortunately, weren’t so lucky. It’s still a nasty pitch, but watching Bryce Harper’s eyes grow wide as he realized he was swinging at junk would have been the icing on the cake.
Dylan Cease’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/illlongcockroach
I usually try to stay away from balls in the dirt for Nastiest Pitches purposes, but this slider from Dylan Cease had so much bite to it that I couldn’t help myself. Welcome to the show, Josh Lowe!
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)