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.
Brayan Bello’s Changeup
My favorite pitch of the night was this nasty changeup and backpedal combo from Brayan Bello. Bello had another solid strikeout day but continued to struggle with the walks and hits. He allowed three runs over just four innings but struck out six.
Colin Rea’s Cutter
Colin Rea gets Eddie Rosario to whiff at this 89 mph cutter. It was one of the best starts of the year for Rea, who struck out nine batters over seven innings of work.
Luis Severino’s Fastball
Severino doesn’t seem to care that he was pitching at Coors Field. This rising fastball to Ryan McMahon was one of his best of the night. He had a total of five punchouts in the outing.
Shota Imanaga’s Splitter
Imanaga looked dominant against Minnesota. He allowed one homer to Royce Lewis, but the lefty was able to strike out ten Twins en route to his ninth win of the season. This splitter to Jose Miranda was his tenth and final strikeout of the night.
Sonny Gray’s Sweeper
Sonny Gray’s signature sweeper forced Josh Lowe to swing at nothing but air. It was the right-hander’s second game in a row going seven innings while striking out two.
Keider Montero’s Slider
Making just his ninth start of the year, Montero flashed an upside that we haven’t seen from the 24-year-old so far in his young career. This was an ugly swing from Justin Turner but a highly impressive slider from the righty.
Clayton Kershaw’s Curveball
This is the “Cooperstown Curveball” as Rob Friedman, aka Pitching Ninja, put it last night. We’ve seen a lot of these from the left-hander since 2008 and last night it looked like the clock had turned back.
Luis Castillo’s Changeup
This perfectly placed changeup from Castillo was basically un-hittable. There wasn’t much Colt Keith could do here besides head back to the dugout like the other eight people who fell victim to Castillo last night.
Framber Valdez’s Curveball
Framber was about as close to a no-hitter as you could possibly be last night. With one out to go, Corey Seager hit a two-run homer off him. It was nonetheless an incredible outing for the left-hander, who punched out five over his 8.2 innings.
Chris Bassitt’s Changeup
The was a late swing by Anthony Santander, who was completely fooled by this changeup from Bassitt. Despite facing a tough Orioles lineup, Bassitt had one of his best outings of the year with nine strikeouts over seven innings.