Pitcher List was founded on the back of filthy pitches, and we strive to bring you the best of the best every day. However, with over 70+ pitches featured every week, there are a lot to sort through. We ask you, the readers, to vote for your favorite every day, and now is your chance to crown the best of the week.
Every week, we will be featuring the top pitches from each day as voted on by the readers. Then, every Tuesday, you’ll have a chance to vote for your favorite for the week. Make your voice heard in the comments, on Twitter, and in our Discord for which pitch you think is the best!
5/3 – Tyler Glasnow’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/blankhastyaphid
Tyler Glasnow’s new slider has been a revolutionary pitch for him this season, and even the best hitter on the planet can’t catch up to it. The pitch has a 35% CSW so far this season and is mystifying hitters every five days. Glasnow is a legit Cy Young candidate for Tampa Bay.
5/4 – Blake Treinen’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/elatedrepulsivegrison
We see a lot of sliders over the course of the season so they have to be truly special to be considered for nastiest of the week. Blake Treinen’s slider is in a league of its’ own so far in 2021. He has clearly made some kind of adjustment with the pitch—check out his player page and cycle through each of the past few years for his slider. Notice the difference in break between this season (seen above) and the pitch in previous seasons? And then a quick check of his Baseball Savant page shows that his slider is averaging over 14 inches of horizontal break this season compared to just over three in previous years. That’s a full ten inch difference. Unreal.
5/5 – John Means‘ Changeup
https://gfycat.com/givingdescriptiveasiantrumpetfish
We could have gone with a bunch of different changeups from John Means‘ no-hitter on Tuesday but we chose this one and you the people loved it (rightfully so). The fist pump after the pitch really elevates it in my eyes as we love to see the emotion when a guy is dealing. We’ll be seeing plenty more of this pitch in Nastiest Pitches this season.
5/5 – Blake Treinen’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/severefarawayindianabat
Here’s another Blake Treinen slider which is just as filthy (if not filthier) than the last one. He is must-see TV at this point.
5/5 – Anthony Bender’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/alienatedfrayedfritillarybutterfly
This sinker from Anthony Bender in his major league debut jumps off the screen. It’s a filthy pitch that helped Bender earn his first career strikeout, and it’s a highlight that he’ll likely remember for the rest of his life. Or at least I hope he does, because he should.
5/6 – Emmanuel Clase’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/limitedbetterfirefly
Another guy who seems to always make it into Nastiest Pitches is Emmanuel Clase and his triple digit cutter. He often throws it out of the zone on the glove side with decent success (28.4% CSW), but this one against Ryan O’Hearn caught plenty of the plate without much of a fight. Filthy stuff.
5/7 – Patrick Weigel’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/deepelaboratelangur
Remember how I said that sliders need to be special in order to stand out of the crowd? This is one of them. As good as Blake Treinen’s slider looks, Patrick Weigel’s slider actually gets more vertical drop and horizontal break than Treinen’s pitch. It’s his most used pitch thus far (52 thrown), and in that limited sample size he has a 50% CSW with the pitch. Absurd.
5/7 – Trevor Cahill’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/politicalpeskyhyrax
A good changeup is my favorite pitch in baseball when it’s working well, hence why two of my favorite pitchers are Luis Castillo and Devin Williams. This particular pitch from Trevor Cahill is Airbender-esque with a ton of filthy movement, and Willson Contreras was totally fooled by it. I would love to see Cahill throwing this pitch with confidence on the regular, because he has it in him and he can be successful with it.
5/8 – Aroldis Chapman’s Fastball
https://gfycat.com/remarkablecluelessflies
Aroldis Chapman’s 39.5% CSW with his four-seamer is the highest it’s been since before the 2017 season, and a 40.3% CSW overall is as dope as it gets. Chapman has not allowed an earned run yet this season and he’s striking guys out at a 65.1% clip. Unreal.
5/9 – Aaron Bummer’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/whichpoisedhoneybee
Aaron Bummer has upped his usage of his devastating slider back to near 20%, and it’s returned a whopping 41.9% CSW thus far in 2021. It’s a pitch he throws down in the zone with decent command, but even when they get away from him they can sometimes be effective. Just ask Andrew Benintendi about that.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)