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!
Charlie Morton’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/beautifulrelievedbubblefish
I hope you like curveballs, because we’ve got a ton of them tonight. The best one (in my opinion) is this filthy Charlie Morton curveball that makes Willson Contreras look absolutely silly. Morton had a 37% CSW on the curveball on the night but it was really the only pitch he had going. All we need for our purposes is one, and this one delivered.
César Valdez’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/goodnatureddeadafricanrockpython
My favorite new pitch of 2021 delivered once again on Monday night. César Valdez earned yet another save thanks to his filthy changeup, and this one dropped out of the zone at the last minute to fool Aaron Hicks.
Julio Urías‘ Curveball
https://gfycat.com/finishedyellowamericansaddlebred
Hey rook—welcome to the bigs! Jonathan India got frozen in place by this sweeping curve from Julio Urías, an 84 MPH beauty that was perfectly located down and in. Urías started out strong but then faded a bit in the middle innings, but six strikeouts over five innings is still pretty solid and something I’ll take for my fantasy team any day of the week.
Zack Wheeler’s Fastball
https://gfycat.com/clevertightblacklemur
Pablo Picasso. Andy Warhol. Zach Wheeler. What do these guys all have in common? They paint. (I’ll let myself out)
Corbin Burnes‘ Curveball
https://gfycat.com/defensiveagileethiopianwolf
This was a tough luck loss for Corbin Burnes, who dominated through five innings once again but then unraveled in the sixth inning as he got Singled Out by Miami. He had a few filthy pitches but my favorite of the night was this curveball that totally fooled Sandy León. Burnes came close a couple times but he still has yet to walk a batter this season.
Shohei Ohtani’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/shimmeringhighlevelfrenchbulldog
Shohei Ohtani truly did it all on Monday night. He struck out nine on the mound while going 2/3 at the plate. The man is an absolute beast and, save for a few pitches he wishes he could have had back, we finally saw what MVP Ohtani can look like. (H/t PL+ member Christopher Reeves)
Rich Hill’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/skeletalethicalcuckoo
Rich Hill struck out 10 batters on Monday night in six innings of two-run ball. He earned the tough luck loss as his offense couldn’t muster up more than one run, but he definitely pitched well enough for the win. He earned a 38% CSW with the slow hook on the night, topped only by a 42% CSW on the checks notes fastball. He’s shown this year that he still has some good starts in that arm of his.
Dillon Maples‘ Slider
https://gfycat.com/paralleldelayedannelid
Shoutout to PL+ member Dillon Vita who is the biggest Dillon Maples stan there is. I’ve seen Dillon talking about Maples for a while now and until tonight I never really saw him pitch. Well, Dillon, your boy made it into Nastiest Pitches thanks to this gross slider against Dansby Swanson. Congrats!
Lucas Luetge’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/glossyhideoushackee
Lucas Luetge was on my radar tonight thanks to a commenter on a previous Nastiest Pitches post. Sure enough, Lucas delivered with this phenomenal curveball after coming on in relief for Deivi Garcia. A slow hook like this will always catch my eye, so sound off in the comments if you know of any other diamond-in-the-rough relievers you think we should be looking out for!
Emmanuel Clase’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/disloyalveneratedfreshwatereel
Emmanuel Clase is simply unfair. A guy who can throw triple-digit cutters and hit his spots like this is nearly impossible to hit. It’s not quite in the zone, but even if it was I doubt Andrelton Simmons was making contact. Good grief.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)