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.
Jhoan Duran’s Splinker
I can’t think of a better way to kick things off than Duran’s signature splinker. He averages 96.9 mph on this pitch which ranks only behind Mason Miller. He throws a nasty one here to Jonny DeLuca to keep the 6-6 tie in the ninth.
Spencer Schwellenbach’s Cutter
Who needs Spencer Strider when you have Spencer Schwellenbach? The rookie had the best start of his career last night against the Tigers, going six innings and punching out seven.
Slade Cecconi’s Changeup
Slade Cecconi might be the greatest name in baseball right now. He also throws a nasty changeup. The righty went six innings and recorded six strikeouts in a shutout of the Nationals.
Nick Lodolo’s Slider
Lodolo looked sharp in this outing against the Pirates. He struck out eight of them, the most he’s had in a game since April 29th. Pittsburgh strikes out at the fourth-highest rate in MLB at 25%.
Mason Miller’s Fastball
Medieval Mason Miller came through with another save for the A’s versus the Royals last night. The flamethrower got Bobby Witt Jr. to swing and miss on this 103 mph fastball.
Andres Muñoz’s Fastball
This was the final pitch of the night. Muñoz blows a 98 mph fastball past Will Brennan to secure the W for the Mariners. The 25-year-old lowered his ERA down to an impressive 1.47 on the season.
Aaron Nola’s Knuckle Curve
Nola bounced back after a brutal eight-run start against the Red Sox last week. He struck out six Padres over six innings, including this knuckle curve that fooled Jake Cronenworth.
Tanner Houck’s Slider
Houck struggled a bit to navigate this Blue Jays lineup last night, but the right-hander still managed to punch out five hitters north of the border. This nasty slider got Davis Schneider to take an ugly hack.
Chris Bassitt’s Sweeper
On the other side of that game, the Bassitt Hound continued his solid season with six punchouts of the Red Sox. The sweeper got the red-hot Ceddane Rafaela to swing at nothing but air. I mostly just want to eat an Uncrustable now.
Jonathan Cannon’s Sweeper
We will finish today’s Nastiest Pitchers article with Jonathan Cannon’s sweeper to Jeremy’s Peña. Cannon struck out four Houston bats over eight innings of no-run ball. It was the best outing of the rookie’s career.
