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.
Michael Wacha’s Changeup
We will kick things off today with this nasty changeup from Michael Wacha against George Springer. This was one of four punchouts for Wacha on the evening, as the Royals squeaked out a 3-2 win over Toronto. Wacha is a heavy changeup pitcher, throwing the pitch 32.8% of the time.
Logan Gilbert’s Slider
Is Logan Gilbert quietly one of the best pitchers in the league? I’d say so. His 29% strikeout rate ranks 15th in MLB and his 2.93 xFIP ranks 14th. Here he makes Evan Carter chase on this slider beneath the zone.
Marcus Stroman’s Slider
Stroman had himself a night on the mound against Oakland. The 32-year-old struck out nine A’s over just 5.1 innings of work. He surrendered three runs but came through with the win for the Yankees in the Bronx. The whiff above was Stroman’s ninth and final strikeout of the night. Zack Gelof was swinging at the air.
Dane Dunning’s Slider
Seattle has been striking out a lot. The team is tied with Colorado in K% at 26.9%. Dunning, on the other hand, has just a 20.9% career K-rate over his five-year career in the big leagues. He was able to bolster those numbers in this one as he struck out seven Mariners over just 4.1 innings. Ty France was his latest victim.
Erick Fedde’s Sinker
The movement on this sinker from Erick Fedde freezes Max Kepler in his tracks. Not even Max could argue with its perfect placement. Fedde and the White Sox were on track to win their fourth game of the season before Byron Buxton tied it in the ninth and Alex Kirilloff walked it off shortly after. The only thing nastier than Fedde’s sinker is Chicago’s record.
Max Fried’s Slider
Making Luis Arraez take an ugly hack like this is impressive in its own right. Arraez strikes out just 9.8% of the time, which ranks fourth in all of baseball. My favorite part about his clip is the staring contest we get at the end. That’s when you know it was a hard-fought battle.
Paul Blackburn’s Slider
Speaking of tough guys to strikeout, Juan Soto goes down hacking here on a slider with some late-breaking movement from Paul Blackburn. Soto has a career whiff rate of just 17% and Blackburn’s career average is 17.7%. The improbability of this one is what makes it so great.
Kenta Maeda’s Splitter
The way Ben Rortvedt looks back at the catcher to see where exactly this pitch went is so funny to me. Kenta Maeda looked sharp in this one, delivering five innings and punching out five Rays along the way. Maeda is a heavy splitter-thrower. He ranks just behind Kevin Gausman this year in splitter frequency at 34.8%.
Logan Webb’s Changeup
Let’s hope everyone at Oracle Park survived that flying bat. Logan Webb was dominant in this one. He delivered eight innings of shutout ball while striking out five Mets. He gets Francisco Lindor to chase on this nasty changeup that broke beneath the zone at the last moment.
Tommy Henry’s Curveball
We will finish off with Tommy Henry’s curveball that dropped Jordan Walker to one knee. Walker is a high-strikeout guy with a 26.9% K-rate so far this season. This was one of six punch outs for Henry who also only gave up one run over six innings of work.