Every morning, the We Love Baseball crew reviews the Nastiest Pitches from the previous day’s games in glorious high-definition GIFs. We want to bring you the highest caliber of nastiness possible, so if you see a nasty pitch, please tell us about it. You can tweet @PitcherList to let us know and we’ll give you a shout-out here in the article if your tip makes the cut.
As a bonus for PL+ members, let us know about a pitch on the PL+ Discord in the Nasty Pitches Channel, and if your suggestion is included the next day, you’ll be entered into a weekly drawing for a free T-shirt!
Craig Kimbrel’s Fastball
https://gfycat.com/perfumedtightbunting
Called on to preserve the lead in the 8th inning, Craig Kimbrel did just that, overpowering Wilmer Difo with a 97 mph fastball up and proceeding to finish off the game in the 9th, leading to a Cubs 4-2 win.
Jake Arrieta’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/wellinformedhappygoluckylcont
Jake Arrieta had himself a quality outing against the Pirates on Thursday, going 6 innings and allowing two earned runs, while striking out four. Among those strikeouts was this curveball down, causing Erik Gonzalez to wave through, which capped off his impressive outing.
Matt Barnes‘ Curveball
https://gfycat.com/sadradiantanchovy
Matt Barnes stepped in to finish off the game on Thursday and very impressively struck out the side, finishing off Boston’s 7-3 win over Baltimore. Here we see a curveball that caused Pedro Severino to take a weak half swing at it just hoping to make any sort of contact.
José Berríos‘ Curveball
https://gfycat.com/sharpeasybluebottlejellyfish
Continuing our trend with curveballs, José Berríos dropped this gorgeous curveball to catch Dylan Moore looking as part of his eight strikeouts in 5.2 innings. This outing was just another example of his very strong start to the 2021 season.
Corbin Burnes‘ Cutter
https://gfycat.com/selfreliantdetailedboto
Corbin Burnes followed up six no-hit innings in his first start (before ceding one in the seventh inning) with a slight drop off on Thursday, only allowing one hit in six innings of work. Burnes continued to impress, striking out nine Cardinals in these 6 innings, and while many of those strikeouts could have ended up on this list, this cutter crossing back across the paint and catching Justin Williams looking was one of the most impressive of the day.
Edwin Diaz’s Fastball
https://gfycat.com/maletatteredkingbird
In his first outing of the season, Edwin Diaz flashed signs of his top-tier self, picking up the win and pitching a perfect 9th inning to keep the Mets only down by one. His lone strikeout was this 99 mph fastball painting the outside corner and sending Brian Anderson right back to the dugout. (h/t to PL+ member KingHippo).
Raisel Iglesias‘ Slider
https://gfycat.com/oilydistinctangelfish
Raisel Iglesias dropped this slider down to catch Vladimir Guerrero Jr. swinging to pick up the save in the Angels’ win over the Blue Jays on Thursday. This strikeout was just one of the three he had in his perfect 11th inning, striking out the side to complete the save and displaying the stuff the Angels knew they would be getting in their trade this offseason.
Lance Lynn’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/anguishedfaroffirishdraughthorse
It took a while, but we finally got to the top outing of the day, a complete game shutout by Lance Lynn, the first shutout by any pitcher in the 2021 season. In order to finish off this shutout, Lynn dropped this sinker down past Jorge Soler, one of 11 strikeouts in this dominant outing.
Dillon Tate’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/easygoingadoredblackwidowspider
Here we see a great slider away by Dillon Tate, flashing some of the stuff the Orioles saw when they acquired him in the Zack Britton trade years ago. This slider rode to the other batter’s box, forcing Bobby Dalbec to wave and miss at the pitch, and holding the game to a one-run deficit.
Garrett Whitlock’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/easysharpjaguarundi
Garrett Whitlock was a Rule 5 pick this offseason from the rival New York Yankees and flashed some gorgeous stuff on Thursday in his two perfect innings of relief. He picked up his first career hold while striking out three, including Ryan Mountcastle on this changeup dropping down and out of the zone.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)