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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Tyler Glasnow’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/delightfuljaggedboilweevil
Tyler Glasnow recorded his 100th strikeout of the season on Tuesday and trails only Shane Bieber for the major league lead. Here is number five of his eight total strikeouts on the night, this one coming on his patented curveball to Gary Sanchez.
Sonny Gray’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/ornateuncommonkid
Though the game between the Phillies and Reds wasn’t the pitchers’ duel many expected, Sonny Gray managed to keep his team in the game before the Phillies blew it open against the Reds’ bullpen. Gray froze Brad Miller here with a stunning front door sinker that just managed to come back over the plate.
Max Fried’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/academicfelinebichonfrise
The Nats traveled to Atlanta for a matchup of NL East rivals on Tuesday. Max Fried took the hill for the home team and showed off this fantastic back foot slider to strikeout Starlin Castro to end the first.
Shane Bieber’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/barrendrearyaxolotl
Shane Bieber leads all of Major League Baseball in strikeouts, and he added seven more to that total on Tuesday. His third strikeout of the day came on this great slider down and away to Tim Anderson.
Domingo German’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/fakeimpoliteaustraliancurlew
Domingo German took the hill for a struggling Yankees team looking to snap their short losing streak. He was hurt by a couple long balls, but had an otherwise solid performance as New York would go on to win in extras. His fifth and final strikeout of the night came on a tight curveball to Mike Zunino. (h/t to PL+ member nvita)
John Gant’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/practicalfirsthandblackbear
John Gant doesn’t light up the radar gun as his fastball regularly sits in the low 90s. His changeup, averaging under 80 mph, sits well below league average as well. However, he has been able to find success with the pitch thus far in 2021 and struck out superstar Mookie Betts on a change with some massive vertical drop.
Bruce Zimmermann’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/jointhardboar
Bruce Zimmermann led the Orioles to their first win in 15 games as he was able to navigate around a lot of hard contact to record a solid line. He struck out seven on the night and had Kyle Garlick way out in front of this breaking ball.
Luis Garcia’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/secondsorrowfulanemonecrab
The Astros sent out Luis Garcia to face the Red Sox in the second of four games between the two teams. Garcia largely held Boston’s strong lineup at bay, allowing only a single run in his seven innings of work. In the second, he got Hunter Renfroe to flail at a slider that ended way outside to pick up one of his six strikeouts on the night.
Garrett Richards‘ Curveball
https://gfycat.com/impurebonycaimanlizard
Jose Altuve homered off of Garrett Richards to lead off the game, but Richards quickly settled down to provide the Sox with a strong performance the rest of the way. He got his revenge on Altuve a few innings later as Richards’ curveball had Altuve looking foolish.
Marcus Stroman’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/glumexhaustedechidna
Marcus Stroman has debuted a new splitter in 2021 and has found some early success with the pitch as it carries a .225 wOBA and a whiff rate of 38%. He showed it off here, getting David Peralta to swing over top of it for the final out of the first.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)