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.
Jared Jones‘ Fastball
There is no doubt that Jones has great stuff. He had a phenomenal 149 Fan 4+ on the day. This season it has a 93rd percentile PLV and 92nd percentile SwStr%. This one is perfectly located.
Ty Madden’s Splitter
Madden had 14 whiffs on the day, and 6 were on the splitter. It’s too early in his career to say if he’ll have a lot of games like this, but let’s enjoy it.
Edward Cabrera’s Changeup
Cabrera’s changeup is a reliable contributor to Nastiest Pitches, and this was a great one, even for him. It comes in at 94 mph and his average changeup velocity is 100th percentile.
Edward Cabrera’s Sinker
Cabrera is known for his changeup, not his sinker, but this is nasty. It gets great horizontal movement. He throws it only 9%, and I’m guessing it’s because it lacks consistency.
Chris Sale’s Slider
Sale’s slider also makes frequent appearances. Many of his slider whiffs today were of the backdoor variety. This is more like what we usually see from him and it gets tons of horizontal movement.
Luis Castillo’s Slider
Castillo is in the midst of another strong season and it has a lot to do with his slider. It has 88th percentile CSW% and 78th percentile PLV.
Luis Castillo’s Sinker
Here’s another great pitch from Castillo. This time it’s a sinker. He’s not quite as reliant on it as he used to be, but it still gets 99th percentile iHB.
Gerrit Cole’s Knuckle Curve
Look at the drop on this knuckle curve from Cole. Its 40.2% CSW% is 92nd percentile, it has 93rd percentile PLV, and it has yet to give up a home run this year.
Edwin Uceta’s Changeup
The Rays seem to have found another reliever with excellent stuff. In addition to this change, he had multiple “sinkers” that looked more like rising four-seamers from that arm angle. His changeup has an 80th percentile SwStr% and 77th percentile ICR.
Michael Kopech’s Fastball
Kopech has one of the best fastballs in baseball. It has a Stuff+ of 152, 95th percentile PLV, and 90th percentile SwStr%. He also uses it nearly 80% of the time.
Photos courtesy of Icon Sportswire
Adapted by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram