Every morning, the We Love Baseball crew reviews the Nastiest Pitches from the previous day’s games. If you see something you think should be included here be sure to tweet @PitcherList to let us know. Or, if you’re a PL+ Member and part of our Discord, shout it out in the Nastiest Pitches channel.
Luis Gil’s Changeup
Gil continues to try to find his way through command issues. In the meantime, he’ll get by with pitches like this. A 92 mph changeup below the zone will frequently result in bad swings. It’s hard to say if he hit his spot exactly, but I think this is roughly where his catcher wanted it.
Luis Gil’s Fastball
Rortvedt isn’t exactly a dominant hitter, but this 98 mph four-seamer from Gil just explodes past him. His average fastball velocity is 95th percentile, iVB 81st percentile, and Height Adjusted VAA is 83rd percentile. He could do a slightly better job of elevating it more frequently, but it has an ICR of just 16.7% (98th percentile). He finished the day with 9 Ks.
José Soriano’s Sinker
José Soriano’s arm was on full display in this game. He threw several 100 and 99 mph four-seamers. This was a 96 mph sinker that was well-located and had good movement. Coming into this game he only had 6.0 IP in 2024, but the sinker had a 78.9% GB%. That’s 86th percentile.
Tanner Bibee’s Slider
Bibee was causing a lot of swings and misses. Many were on his changeup, but this was a nasty slider. It was unfair to Ryan Noda, fresh off the IL, but it ended up working out for him as he reached on the passed ball.
Sonny Gray’s Sinker
The average Sonny Gray sinker has about 12″ of horizontal break. This one had 17″. He badly misses his spot, but it worked out for him as he caused a half-hearted swing from Hoskins. His sinker has a 96th percentile Zone%, 93rd% Swinging Strike%, and 96th percentile CSW%, but just an 8th percentile GB%.
Edward Cabrera’s Changeup
Cabrera has one of the hardest and most thrown changeups in the game. It also generates 96th percentile Total Break. It’s surprising that it performs like an average pitch. A quick look at its locations explains that. It has a x-mLoc% of 36.4% (87th percentile) and a y-mLoc% of 24.2% (75th percentile). He throws it middle-middle too much.
Aaron Nola’s Knuckle Curve
Nola throws his curveball a lot and generates a lot of swings and misses outside of the zone. PLV really likes it, considering it 91st percentile. He gets great extension on it and it generates well above-average horizontal break.
Aroldis Chapman’s Sinker
The camera cuts back just in time to catch a 102 mph sinker from Chapman on the up-and-away corner. It has a 14.3% Swinging Strike % (88th percentile) and the only contact against it so far has been popups. He has a 42.3% K%. Like it or not, he’s one of the better relievers of all time.
Tyler Glasnow’s Slider
Glasnow threw several fastball and curveballs that I considered including, but I settled on this slider. It goes without saying, but when he’s healthy he’s one of the best SP in baseball. The slider averages 90.9 mph (98th percentile) and generates an excellent 23.8% Swinging Strike% (89th percentile). PLV likes it too.
Michael Kopech’s Fastball
98th percentile velocity, 93rd extension, 81st iVB, and 83rd Height Adjusted VAA. Everything about Kopech’s fastball suggests it should be one of the best high fastballs in the game. Its results have been above-average, but a bit underwhelming. It does have a hiLoc% of 58.9%. He should probably throw it there a bit more, but I think it’s simply a case of him relying on it too much. He throws it 82% of the time. That’s 99th percentile. His other pitch is a slider which PLV grades as 17th percentile. If he can make it just a slightly better offering and rely on it a bit more he could become one of the best relievers in the game.
Photos courtesy of Icon Sportswire
Adapted by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram