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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Corbin Burnes‘ Cutter
https://gfycat.com/backspanishdikkops
Corbin Burnes sure had himself a night. He pitched six strong innings without giving up a run, though he wasn’t fortunate enough to earn the win. The cutter alone was his most thrown pitch (62% usage) and earned a whopping 44% CSW on the night. Poor Joc Pederson was the victim for this one…
Corbin Burnes‘ Changeup
https://gfycat.com/windingpoorhoverfly
… and, poor Joc Pederson was also the victim of this devastating changeup. Burnes struck out 11 on the night, but he couldn’t do it with only two pitches…
Corbin Burnes‘ Sinker
https://gfycat.com/flashylittlehyrax
… lucky for him, he had his sinker working as well. Not to mention a curveball that also earned a 40% CSW. Burnes was flat-out filthy all night long.
Zach Littell’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/infatuatedvelvetygazelle
Zach Littell also got into the mix in this game, and he fooled Kolten Wong with this nasty cutter that zipped down and in on him before he could even realize what was happening.
José Berríos‘ Curveball
https://gfycat.com/closedinfantileflamingo
José Berríos pitched very well against the struggling Red Sox offense, who somehow managed to score two runs against him when it seemed like Berríos just simply had it going on all night. The strikeouts were low (only four), but Boston seemed to finally start laying off some of the breaking stuff out of the zone in this one. Still, enjoy this nasty curveball.
Nathan Eovaldi’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/decisivewatchfulamphiuma
I thought Nathan Eovaldi pitched really well in this game. He cruised through most of it, throwing a paltry 72 pitches to get through seven innings, but the two solo shots he allowed were killer. We didn’t see as much usage of the splitter in this one as we have in the past (2/6 CSW), but this one to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. fell completely off the face of the earth for a monstrous whiff.
José Berríos‘ Changeup
https://gfycat.com/mammothlazyflyinglemur
And here’s that Berríos guy again. On a small Monday slate, we have to reuse some guys on occasion, but both Berríos and Corbin Burnes were filthy enough that I still left out some nasty stuff. It was a good night in the pitching world, that’s for sure.
Max Scherzer’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/decisiveenchantingcardinal
Max Scherzer’s changeup was somehow the only one of his three pitches that didn’t have a CSW% in the 30s, but I’d argue this was his nastiest pitch of the night. A pitch with a ton of movement in, just below the hands, in a spot that any right-handed batter will struggle with. At 37, Mad Max still has it.
Kyle Freeland’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/wearysnivelingcutworm
Philly’s terrible camera angle doesn’t help here, but this nasty curveball from Kyle Freeland helped get him out of a huge jam in the opening inning. The pitch got a bunch of movement and was located perfectly, which is exactly what we like to see.
Michael Lorenzen’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/powerlessweepyhectorsdolphin
Finally, Michael Lorenzen threw this changeup that nearly caused José Ramírez to swing completely out of his shoes.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)