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.
Paul Skenes’ Fastball
Paul Skenes had especially nasty stuff tonight. He dots this 100 mph four-seamer up and away. With the rest of his stuff, how is anyone supposed to hit this? He finished with 16 whiffs.
Paul Skenes’ Changeup
Based on its 5% usage, Skenes’ seems to think this is his fifth-best pitch. However, it has a 97th percentile SwStr%, 93rd percentile ICR, and 86th percentile Total Break.
Paul Skenes’ Sinker
Look at that movement on a 95 mph sinker. Some might think having 3 pitches from one guy on Nastiest Pitches is excessive, but honestly, all 10 of them could be from Skenes tonight. This one is my favorite though.
Luis Gil’s Changeup
I love watching Gil’s changeup. Maybe it’s because it has 99th percentile velocity. Overall, the numbers on it are OK, but not great. It may improve in future years as changeups are notoriously difficult for young pitchers to learn.
Justin Martinez’s Slider
Justin Martinez has been great. This 91 mph slider takes a sharp break and Frelick can’t hold up. Martinez does this to a lot of guys.
Hunter Greene’s Slider
With a 2.83 ERA and 1.02 WHIP Greene has taken a big step forward this year. His slider has a 77th percentile SwStr% and 85th percentile ICR. That’s a good combination.
Grant Holmes’ Slider
In just 4.0 IP tonight Holmes generated 15 total whiffs. 11 of them came on his slider. He has been a pleasant surprise this year and a lot of his success can be attributed to this slider. Coming into today it had a 90th percentile SwStr%. It certainly went up.
Sean Burke’s Curveball
Look at the sharp break on this curveball. Burke also had a good day, with 8 Ks and 14 whiffs in 6.0 IP.
DL Hall’s Slider
Hall gets Pederson to chase this slider. He hasn’t thrown a ton of innings, but his slider has been good. It has a 93rd percentile SwStr%.
Edwin Uceta’s Sinker
Here’s that unique, rising sinker from Uceta. It’s got a 99th percentile SwStr%. I don’t have anything to say other than that. I’m not sure how many people read these blurbs anyways, right?
Photos courtesy of Icon Sportswire
Adapted by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram