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.
Logan Gilbert’s Splitter
Gilbert’s afternoon began with a terrific splitter that had Jose Altuve swinging out of his shoe tops. Unfortunately for him, two big swings from Alex Bregman and Victor Caratini later spoiled the outing. Regardless, Gilbert’s splitter has yielded excellent results holding batters to a .103 xwOBA and .048 xBA.
Jameson Taillon’s Changeup
Jameson Taillon threw all of three changeups out of 87 pitches. However, this one fell straight off the table with some nasty armside fade culminating in a sword from Brice Turang.
Griffin Jax’s Sweeper
Nelson Velázquez had no chance. With the tying run on the on-deck circle, he tried to get on base by staring at the first two sweepers from Griffin Jax for called strikes and then swung through the third one, perfectly placed just off the outer edge. The Jax sweeper has taken a big step forward this year with its whiff rate jumping from 28.2% to 40%.
Nick Pivetta’s Sweeper
Pivetta and Jack Flaherty took turns stacking up strikeouts last night, each totaling nine. The Fenway Faithful were treated to a pretty nice moment when Pivetta punched out this week’s waiver wire darling, Matt Vierling, with this doozy of a sweeper. It was Pivetta’s eighth consecutive strikeout, tying the franchise record held by the Rocket himself back in 1986.
Jack Flaherty’s Slider
Pivetta pitched well but Flaherty was the pitcher of record when he left the field with two down in the seventh. His ninth and final strikeout victim was Wilyer Abreu on a sharp slider that fell like a trapdoor.
Mason Miller’s Fastball
Some things in life aren’t fair. Like when a hitter with a 36.2% K rate has to face a pitcher with a 52.8% K rate. That’s not a typo. And then right on cue, Jose Siri homered on the next pitch to put the Rays ahead. That’s Baseball, Suzyn.
Spencer Arrighetti’s Curveball
Spencer Arrighetti has had a rough rookie season thus far but put together his finest outing in Seattle, outdueling Gilbert with six scoreless innings. He ended with 14 swings and misses (Gilbert had 11) including this nasty hook to Julio Rodríguez who ended this at-bat as the Pasta Pirate’s first of eight strikeout victims.
Tyler Alexander’s Changeup
With Brent Rooker, who is ninth in baseball with a .915 OPS, looking to add to the A’s 4-3 lead, Tyler Alexander dug deep and channeled his inner Bob Ross with a perfect changeup that dotted the outside corner for his fourth of a season-high seven strikeouts.
Spencer Arrighetti’s Cutter
Arrighetti’s first scoreless outing of the year was powered by his cutter which generated nine whiffs on 16 swings (56%). Overall, the Pasta Pirate’s cutter has yielded a .261 xwOBA and 12.5% SwStr rate while earning a stellar 5.75 PLV.
Carlos Rodón’s Slider
Carlos Rodón’s redemption tour continued in L.A. where he earned his fifth consecutive win with a somewhat underwhelming final line spoiled by a few late hits. Still, his slider has looked sharp lately. Last night, it returned six whiffs on 12 swings, including this mean, backfoot slider that tied up Kevin Pillar moments before he chased Rodón from the game with an RBI double.