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.
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Alek Manoah’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/thesebossybooby
Alek Manoah’s scouting report card must’ve said to throw a filthy back-foot slider to Joey Wendle. He executed that plan perfectly.
Eduardo Rodriguez’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/optimisticgravecero
Eduardo Rodriguez took the ball in Boston as the Red Sox continued their playoff push to secure a Wild Card spot. E-Rod made an early exit as he was unable to complete five innings but was able to limit the damage and kept the Sox in the game. He struck out Pete Alonso here in the second with a changeup that seemed to dive away at the last moment.
Cal Quantrill’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/satisfiedenlightenedfugu
Cal Quantrill’s strong season continued Tuesday against the lowly Royals as the righty went six and two-thirds while striking out six. He finished off the fourth inning with a great changeup to Adalberto Mondesi.
Trevor Rogers‘ Changeup
https://gfycat.com/miniaturerashaustraliancattledog
The two bottom teams in the NL East squared off on Monday in a Rogers vs. Rogers pitching matchup. Both pitched well, and the Marlins’ Trevor Rogers struck out ten over his 5 1/3 innings. He made Juan Soto look silly on a rare left-on-left changeup here.
Jordan Montgomery’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/realisticcoldeastsiberianlaika
The Yankees sent out Jordan Montgomery as they tried to keep pace in the hectic AL Wild Card race. He tossed 5 2/3 and allowed only a single run as the Yankees coasted to victory. One of six punchouts; he struck out a flailing Isiah Kiner-Falefa on a great breaking ball below the zone.
Jose Alvarado’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/drearyunkemptguernseycow
It’s well-known that Jose Alvarado can light up the radar gun with an average fastball velocity of 99 MPH. But it’s just unfair when he breaks out a mid-90s cutter that absolutely ties up Trey Mancini.
Michael King’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/untimelydimpledleonberger
Michael King was the first man out of the pen for the Yankees on Tuesday, and the reliever promptly struck out the side. All three Ks came on his heater, and this sinker to Willie Calhoun froze the lefty with a ton of arm side run.
Brandon Woodruff’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/bitterexhaustedbettong
Brandon Woodruff racked up double-digit strikeouts in his six innings of work on Tuesday, but the Cy Young contender would not pick up the win as the Brewer offense couldn’t muster a run of support. He may have received a bit of help from home plate umpire Jeff Nelson on his tenth and final strikeout, but the well-placed changeup to Tyler O’Neill ran back just enough to pick up the call.
Hector Neris’ Splitter
https://gfycat.com/blackgloriousfossa
Poor Trey Mancini is on the wrong end of a second nasty pitch tonight. This time he fell victim to a great splitter from Hector Neris. The two pitches to Mancini ended up in nearly the same spot but got there in very different ways. Hitting is hard…
Kevin Gausman’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/bittervibrantkite
And finally, what would Nastiest Pitches be without a Kevin Gausman splitter? While he’s fallen out of Cy Young contention, the veteran righty is still having a career year and has played a huge role in the Giants’ World Series aspirations. Gausman eclipsed the 200-strikeout mark for the first time in his career in 2021 and kept adding to that total on Tuesday night. He struck out Fernando Tatis Jr. to open the game, though the rest of his start would not go as smoothly.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)