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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Carlos Rodón’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/creepyelatedbluebreastedkookaburra
A perfectly located slider from Rodón locks up Jeimer Candelario for the second out of the third. This strikeout was set up by the pitch before, a fastball clearly high and away that was ruled a strike.
Félix Bautista’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/shockingkindheartedfoxhound
I applaud Andrew Vaughn for his efforts as this splitter has given hitters nightmares all year with a 54% whiff rate. The O’s haven’t missed a beat since moving on from Jorge López as Bautista is now 6-for-6 in saves since being installed as the new closer.
Max Fried’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/oldclearbaboon
A dominant outing from Fried, the only blemish came on a dinger from former Red Sox Michael Chavis in the second. The lefty ended the sixth on this nasty hook to Greg Allen for his fourth strikeout of the night.
Robbie Ray’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/sleepyalienatedjackal
After a walk and a groundout in his first two plate appearances, Nats leadoff man Alex Call whiffed on this slider for Ray’s sixth punchout of the night. Out of 103 total pitches, the lefty tossed 45 sliders and it returned eight whiffs on 20 swings.
Pablo López’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/generaldecimalirishwaterspaniel
Some right-on-right crime from López to rookie catcher Shea Langeliers ended the second in what was one of the righty’s better games in a while as he tossed six scoreless while picking up his eighth win of the year. He had his slow ball working as it returned nine whiffs on 16 swings.
Tony Gonsolin’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/linearabsolutekiwi
Gonsolin only threw 77 pitches through five innings en route to an easy 10-1 victory. His splitter returned five whiffs on eleven swings, this one to Andrew McCutchen in the fourth led to the second out of what was a 1-2-3 fourth. The righty has thrown his splitter more this year at 27.7% compared to 21.7% last year and while its whiff rate has dropped nearly 10%, it has gotten the job done and held batters to just a .154 wOBA allowed.
Seth Lugo’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/kindfelinediplodocus
Lugo entered last night’s game with the score tied 2-2 in the sixth. This at-bat actually should have ended on the previous pitch; A beautiful slider on the outside corner, but Aaron Judge got the benefit of the doubt much to the displeasure of Buck Showalter. Regardless, the veteran reliever got Judge to whiff on this perfectly located hook for the first out.
Nick Lodolo’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/lastuntriedfrillneckedlizard
Walks have been a little bit of a deterrent but the big lefty out of TCU has shown plenty of promise through 12 starts this year. The curveball has been his go-to pitch with a 45% whiff rate and it knocked out Nick Castellanos for the rookie’s first K of the night.
Carlos Rodón’s Fastball
https://gfycat.com/scarcenaughtyamericancreamdraft
Rodón’s heater was a hero last night as it returned a whopped 17 whiffs on 29 swings. Oh the Tigers, what would we do without you? Anyways, It’ll be very interesting to see where the lefty ends up this off-season after triggering an opt-out clause in his two-year deal with the Giants back in July.
Emmanuel Clase’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/longvalidbubblefish
Guarding a 3-1 lead in the ninth, Clase sent Aaron Nola’s older brother packing for the first on this cutter that dotted the inside corner at 101 MPH. He’d later get Jake Cronenworth swinging for the final out of his 29th save.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)