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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Frankie Montas‘ Splitter
https://gfycat.com/poshimpossiblearrowana
After the A’s offseason selloff, Frankie Montas’ days in Oakland appear numbered. As one of the last remaining trade chips for the tanking Athletics, it appears every start for the veteran is a showcase for any interested teams. He got the start in game one of Tuesday’s doubleheader against Detroit, and, while he didn’t get the win, pitched well overall on the afternoon. He showed off a disappearing splitter here to Robbie Grossman.
Tarik Skubal’s Knuckle-Curve
https://gfycat.com/willingneargossamerwingedbutterfly
Tarik Skubal will be an important piece going forward for the rebuilding Tigers. After dominating the minor leagues, the lefty found moderate success as a rookie and seems primed for an imminent breakout. As with all young pitchers, there will be some bumps in the road, but Skubal has proven that he is still able to rack up the strikeouts. He finished with five on the afternoon including one on this big breaking ball to Elvis Andrus.
Adrian Martinez’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/consciousmellowbufflehead
Adrian Martinez was one of the players Oakland received back in the Sean Manaea deal this spring, and Tuesday marked the Major League debut for the 25-year-old right-hander. Martinez was strong in his debut, tossing five and a third scoreless innings while striking out three. He froze Spencer Torkelson in the third on a running sinker that ran back into the zone to catch just enough to get the called strike three.
Garrett Whitlock’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/sinfulbaggyamurratsnake
Things are bad in Boston. The offense can’t score runs and the bullpen has proven unable to hold any lead that the anemic offense is able to provide. However, Boston’s starting rotation has been remarkably good over the season’s first month. Garrett Whitlock has bounced back and forth between the rotation and bullpen, but it appears the Sox are ready to commit to him as a starter. He took the mound Tuesday against Atlanta and while he wasn’t at his sharpest, he still showed off his ability to miss bats with five Ks in three innings. Two came on the changeup including this one to Ronald Acuña Jr.
Kyle Wright’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/acrobaticblankherculesbeetle
It looked to be Kyle Wright’s turn to dominate the Red Sox offense on Tuesday though he may not have counted on Alex Cora shaving his beard. The Boston bats jumped on the former Vanderbilt star for a six-run second inning. Wright still showed off his elite stuff with a pretty breaking ball to put away Kiké Hernández for the first out of the game.
Freddy Peralta’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/recklesswarmheartedbarb
After a breakout 2021 campaign, Freddy Peralta has struggled with run suppression to begin 2022. Despite the early struggles, it appears that he is on his way to righting the ship and still displays his swing and miss stuff ranking in the top 20% in both K rate and whiff percentage. He added to that total Tuesday with eight strikeouts including a filthy back-foot slider to Colin Moran.
Tony Gonsolin’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/circularpowerfulfeline
The Dodgers’ Tony Gonsolin has been a solid part of the LA pitching staff for a few years now, whether it be out of the ‘pen or in the rotation. Gonsolin appears to be a full-fledged starter in 2022 and while he still doesn’t work too deep into games, he has been great while he has the ball. Despite not being a high-strikeout pitcher, Gonsolin does possess the ability to miss bats, especially with his slider; a pitch that has had around a 45% whiff rate over the course of his career. It was his splitter that earned him three of five punchouts on Tuesday, however, and it elicited the whiff from Diego Castillo here when it disappeared below the zone.
Luis Severino’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/advancedenormousaustralianfurseal
The red-hot Yankees hosted the Jays on Tuesday as New York looked to solidify their hold on the top spot in the AL East. Their starter Luis Severino has battled injuries over the last couple of years but has been as good as anyone when healthy and appears so in 2022. He allowed a few early runs in this one but bounced back to pick up eight strikeouts in less than five innings of work. He struck out three in the first and got Teoscar Hernández on a great slider.
Kyle Bradish’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/altruisticexhaustedacouchi
Kyle Bradish had two Major League starts to his name and had collected a total of five strikeouts in his career before erupting for eleven on Tuesday evening. He used his four-pitch mix well and ended with an impressive 41% CSW. He put away Tommy Edman here on a hammer of a breaking ball.
Reid Detmers‘ Curveball
https://gfycat.com/easylawfulcarp
Reid Detmers was one of three pitchers to take a no-hitter into the sixth on Tuesday. Detmers would be the only one to finish the job and would go on to record the second no-hitter of 2022 (first solo). His second and final strikeout of the night came on this big breaker to catcher Mike Zunino.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)