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.
Taj Bradley’s Cutter
Bradley’s cutter has 94th percentile iHB which contributes to a 15.0% SwStr% (83rd percentile). This is despite just a 40.7% Zone% (15th percentile) and 24.2% O-Swing% (27th percentile). It has also allowed just a 33.3% ICR (78th percentile). All of this tells me he has a very good cutter. He just needs to throw it in the zone more. Of course, this, and injuries, has been the story of his young career thus far.
Matt Waldron’s Knuckleball
Look at the late break on this one. I’ve watched it multiple times, and I still expect it to break armside. I don’t know how Higashioka catches it. Of course, percentile ranks are meaningless for a knuckleball since there is nothing to compare Waldron’s to. However, it’s allowed just a .230 wOBA and .213 xwOBA.
Spencer Schwellenbach’s Cutter
This cutter keeps sliding away from the batter, almost like it has more in common with an 87 mph slider. He throws both so I suspect this was misclassified. Either way, both his slider and cutter are excellent at generating strikes. Combined, they have about a 78% Str%, which would be about 97th percentile.
Kevin Gausman’s Splitter
Gausman threw a couple of devastating splitters to Volpe today, but I chose this one. His splitter still gets 96th percentile Total Break, but it hasn’t been as effective as it has been in the past. This might be because his four-seamer is averaging just 93.7 mph; that’s about 1 mph slower than the rest of his career.
Gerrit Cole’s Cutter
This cutter is well-placed and gets a ton of vertical break. The only thing Varsho can do is pull it foul. I’m surprised he was even able to do that.
Gerrit Cole’s Knuckle Curve
There isn’t much data for Cole yet this year, but he was looking sharper today versus the Blue Jays. Kiermaier isn’t exactly a dominant hitter, but this is a nasty pitch.
Hunter Greene’s Slider
Greene is known more for his high velo fastball, but his slider is pretty good too. It averages 86.6 mph (70th percentile) but still manages to generate 62nd percentile Total Break. PLV only grades it as 32nd percentile. This is likely due to Greene’s well-known command issues.
Garrett Crochet’s Slider
Look at the pitiful hack this silly slider causes. Blackmon is a veteran hitter, too. Crochet’s slider has 95th percentile iHB and this one is especially nasty.
Garrett Crochet’s Cutter
When I wrote about Crochet for Is It Legit? early in the season, I did not think he had the repertoire to be a viable starter. Boy, was I wrong, and the cutter is a big reason why. Its 21.8% SwStr% is 96th percentile, it has a 58.0% GB% (89th percentile), .229 wOBA (85th percentile), and .190 xwOBA (90th percentile). It’s great in other metrics too, but I’ll stop here.
Jhoan Duran’s Splitter
A 97 mph splitter located there?! As my 7-year-old would say, “Oh my potatoes!” Duran’s splitter has a 55.7% Zone% (98th percentile), 15.2% ICR (96th percentile), but just an 11.5% SwStr% (25th percentile). It’s possible it would be even more effective if he threw it out of the zone a little more often.
Photos courtesy of Icon Sportswire
Adapted by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram