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!
Alec Mills‘ Slider
https://gfycat.com/organicinsidiousalaskanmalamute
We’re going to start this one out with a couple filthy pitches from last night’s start by Alec Mills. The first one is from Matt Carpenter’s first at-bat of the game, where Mills drops a beauty of a slider on the inside part of the plate for strike three. Carpenter tried to check his swing but it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. That’s one K for Carpenter.
Alec Mills‘ Changeup
https://gfycat.com/shadyincompletegrayfox
In Carpenter’s next at bat, he once again goes down on strikes at the hands of Mills, but this time on a pitch way out of the zone that he had no business swinging at. Look at that tailing action! While the final line wasn’t what Mills wanted, these two pitches in tandem were absolutely disgusting and both deserve to be featured here. It also deserves a bonus nasty overlay which you can see below.
https://gfycat.com/pepperyexemplaryamericanquarterhorse
José Berríos‘ Curveball
https://gfycat.com/eachjadeddodo
José Berríos‘ curveball is a Nastiest Pitches Hall of Fame pitch (there’s an offseason article idea…) and here’s yet another iteration of it doing what it does best—darting away from righties for a whiff. It it legitimately headed right down the pipe before it suddenly drops off the table. Just another reminder that baseball is hard.
Shohei Ohtani’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/solidoptimisticblesbok
Give Shohei Ohtani a few more years and he might have a pitch in the Hall of Fame too. The splitter doesn’t get as much Looney Tunes movement as a Berríos curveball, but at 90 MPH with a ton of drop it’s equally unhittable.
José Berríos‘ Changeup
https://gfycat.com/directdecimaladeliepenguin
Another Berríos entry from last night is this disgusting changeup that falls completely off the map to Yoán Moncada in the first inning. The changeup was filthy with 7/16 CSW on Monday night, and there were a handful more I could have chosen here.
Griffin Jax’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/thisvengefulcatbird
This pitch is very reminiscent of June’s Nastiest Pitch of the Month courtesy of José Urquidy, just that it’s darting in on a right hander as opposed to falling away from a lefty. José Abreu is no easy out, even in a down year, so this pitch is very impressive considering he got Abreu to chase a slider with the next pitch. Jax had a 15/37 CSW on those two pitches in this one and it was a combination that was clearly working. Nasty stuff.
Adam Ottavino’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/limpfarflungbream
Adam Ottavino’s first season in Boston had a rocky start, but he’s since kicked it into gear and now he’s back to his old self. This slider gets more drop than his usually do but the result is the same. Disgusting.
Nick Pivetta’s Knuckle Curve
https://gfycat.com/severeuntriedhermitcrab
Vladimir Guerrero once hit a bloop single on a pitch that bounced in the dirt. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. tried to do that last night on this nasty knuckle curve from Nick Pivetta and failed miserably. Don’t worry Vladito, you’ll have plenty of opportunities in the future to recreate that epic moment.
Aaron Bummer’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/slowhoarseantelope
Aaron Bummer is a regular in Nastiest Pitches and it always seems to be because of a filthy slider. This one is no different. If I were a left-handed batter I would want nothing to do with facing Bummer in any situation ever.
Paul Fry’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/fatancienteagle
This slider from Paul Fry gets a lot of really late action. The first 40 feet through the air looks like a fastball on the outside part of the plate, then it suddenly darts in by the knees of Vidal Bruján. Bruján may be a rookie but he’s still an incredibly talented hitter, so this is very impressive.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)