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.
Ben Lively’s Changeup
Look at the horizontal movement on this changeup from Lively. Ordinarily, his changeup averages a good 16.3″ of iHB, but this one is closer to 19″. He only throws it 8% of the time, but it has 81st percentile PLV.
Zack Wheeler’s Curveball
Although he wasn’t good today, Wheeler is still one of the game’s best SPs. His curveball isn’t even his bread and butter and just look at the sharp break on this pitch. Ryan O’Hearn is quite good against RHPs, but this one makes him look silly.
Zack Wheeler’s Fastball
Might as well double up with this perfectly placed four-seamer from Wheeler. In his last start, he had an excellent 1.9 HAVAA. It was down only slightly today to 1.7. If he can maintain this he could be even better.
Dylan Cease’s Knuckle Curve
Overall, Cease has a below-average curveball. Its only real positive is its 73rd percentile Swinging Strike%. Wisely, he throws it just 7% of the time. When you locate them like this, though, you’re going to have good results. This is pretty to watch.
Corbin Burnes‘ Sinker
Of course, Burnes is making an appearance. It’s just a matter of which pitch. This 97 mph sinker dives out of the zone like an 87 mph changeup, leaving Bohm with little chance. Burnes’ sinker has 98th percentile velocity but still maintains 66th percentile vertical break.
Bailey Ober’s Changeup
Ober really pulls the string on this changeup. He goes to it a lot at 24% usage, and it’s a good one. It has 79th percentile O-Swing%, 83rd percentile Swinging Strike%, 89th percentile Str-ICR, and 98th percentile PLV. It might be more effective because it’s coming from a 6’9″ guy.
Ronel Blanco’s Slider
Blanco was excellent vs. the Tigers and command was a big reason why, as is standard for him. Trying to throw a slider here to LHBs can be dangerous because if he misses in the zone, it’s in most lefties’ danger zone. His slider has been an above-average pitch for him, which is good, considering he throws it 31% of the time.
A.J. Puk’s Sweeper
Puk’s sweeper causes a lot of whiffs like this from LHBs. It looks like a strike until the last minute, and, by that time, it might be too late to hold up. His command of it isn’t great though. It has a 25.4% x-mLoc% (84th percentile) and a 7.6% mmLoc% (83rd percentile).
Ben Joyce’s Fastball
Joyce averages 101.6 mph on his fastball. It gets only 12.3″ iVB, but 1.9 HAVAA (97th percentile). He hasn’t thrown enough MLB innings to know for sure, but he has a reputation for having little idea where it is going. How cliché.
Yennier Cano’s Slider
What a great slider in a big spot. Cano is known more for his sinker-changeup, which he throws 79% of the time. His slider is actually pretty bad, with just a 27.3% Zone%, 17.5% O-Swing%, and a horrendous 75% ICR. That’s a bad combination. But it gives batters something else to think about. It’s fun to see guys so pumped up—at least, when it’s not against my team.
Photos courtesy of Icon Sportswire
Adapted by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram