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.
Justin Steele’s Slider
The Cubs boat raced the Tigers 10-3 thanks to a sharp performance from Steele, who racked up 10 punchouts across seven innings. Steele’s penultimate strikeout came on this backdoor slider to Jake Rogers. The batter before Rogers, the recently recalled Spencer Torkelson, delivered the only blemish on Steele’s ledger: a two-run shot to left-center.
Jack Neely’s Slider
Drafted in the 11th round by the Yankees out of Ohio State three summers ago, Jack Neely debuted Wednesday night, and things didn’t go well. However, the 6’8″ right-hander bounced back yesterday afternoon, fanning Andy Ibañez for the first strikeout of his career. Colt Keith followed and worked the count to 2-2 before Neely reeled off this nosediving slider. Spoiler alert: Keith didn’t make it to first.
Gavin Williams‘ Fastball
Williams’ sophomore season worsened with the Yankees handing him his sixth loss. Still, his upside isn’t hard to spot. His heater topped just under 100 mph and he led the game with 14 whiffs, more than doubling his counterpart, the reigning AL Cy Young winner. His fifth and final K of the day came on a high and hard heater to Gleyber Torres.
Justin Lawrence’s Sweeper
I won’t pretend like I could name anyone in the Rockies pen. I know, shame, shame. But, hey this was a spicy sweeper from Justin Lawrence to whiff Jacob Young for the final out of the sixth. Lawrence’s sweeper has earned a 5.62 PLV this year. That’s pretty good. His sinker, though? Eh, well, that might have something to do with his 6.34 ERA. That and, you know, the place he calls home that rhymes with s’mores.
Nick Lodolo’s Curveball
Lodolo began the night poised, allowing just two baserunners through four while fanning eight. This pretty backdoor bender to Bryan Reynolds notched his sixth K. But then the fifth inning happened and his command went AWOL. He walked two and plunked two before being replaced by Jakob Junis, who, of course, promptly surrendered a bases-clearing double to Bryan De La Cruz. Lodolo’s final line was ugly, but he totaled 17 whiffs on 36 swings (47%).
Spencer Arrighetti’s Sweeper
Arrighetti and Lodolo are similar in that they can rack up strikeouts with great breaking stuff but are sometimes undone by wonky command. Unlike Lodolo, Arrighetti avoided trouble and shined, handing the O’s and Corbin Burnes a 6-0 loss at Camden Yards. His fourth strikeout came on a mean sweeper to Cedric Mullins. Well, he tried to hold up at least, sort of.
Gerrit Cole’s Knuckle Curve
Cole blanked the Guardians across six innings, but his two strikeouts and five walks tell you it wasn’t quite a vintage performance. Still, he snapped a couple of eye-catching knuckle curves, including this one to Andrés Giménez for his first strikeout.
Spencer Schwellenbach’s Curveball
Atlanta’s 24-year-old rookie racked up 20 whiffs while earning his fifth win. Bryce Harper hit a single to center in his first at-bat. However, Schwellenbach dominated the rematch in the fourth, getting Harper to swing through three curveballs; this was the first.
Luis Severino’s Sweeper
Luis Severino walked four and only lasted five innings, but he eked out his ninth win in a pitcher’s duel with Dylan Cease before the Mets blew it open in the ninth. Sevy’s second strikeout came on a sweeper to Manny Machado that nearly veered into the left-handed batter’s box.
Dylan Cease’s Slider
We’ll finish with Dylan Cease, who fell into an early 1-0 hole after allowing consecutive doubles to the first two batters he faced, Francisco Lindor and Mark Vientos. However, he recovered and grinded into the seventh. His fifth punchout came on this sharp slider to Pete Alonso. Cease’s slider continues to be one of the best in baseball, yielding a 22.7% SwStr rate (93rd percentile among SP) while holding batters to a .211 xwOBA (89th percentile among SP).