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.
As a bonus for PL+ members, let us know about a pitch on the PL+ Discord in the Nasty Pitches Channel, and if your suggestion is included the next day, you’ll be entered into a weekly drawing for a free T-shirt!
Aaron Bummer’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/seriousrapidiberianchiffchaff
Uhhhhh what? How on earth does this pitch move that much? Physics, man. What pitchers, especially Aaron Bummer, are able to do with a baseball in their hands is unfathomable.
Charlie Morton’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/hopefulexaltedborer
Uncle Charlie has a curve so pretty that even Maria is jealous. Yes, I knew the song before I looked it up. No, I had no idea what it was from. I’m in my late 20’s, give me a break.
César Valdez’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/nextedibleelephant
The dead fish has been flopping around all season and this one is no different. Yes, I know that dead fish technically don’t flop, but Nelson Cruz was a fish out of water trying to hit this pitch. For whatever reason, whenever I see this pitch I think to myself “GOLDEEN GOLDEEN!”
Sergio Romo’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/sizzlinginfantileasiaticlesserfreshwaterclam
Sergio Romo’s seventh inning was pretty dang filthy. He struck out three batters: one on a changeup, one on a slider, and this one with a sinker. The ball was literally flying all over the place in the inning and White Sox hitters couldn’t figure out what was coming next. Here’s a look at all three of his strikeouts, courtesy of one of the best Twitter accounts on the ‘net.
Sergio Romo struck out the side in the 7th inning… and all three third strikes were filthy pic.twitter.com/YErsRg6hd6
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) August 19, 2021
Devin Williams‘ Changeup
https://gfycat.com/goldencomposedatlasmoth
Airbender. That’s it, that’s the blurb.
Juan Minaya’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/miserablescareddrake
I love Juan Minaya’s changeup. Nobody is talking about how good it is. Sure, it only has a 29% CSW on the year… BUT JUST LOOK AT IT! It’s Airbender-esque. I think we’re going to be talking a lot about Juan Minaya next year as a breakout reliever if he can make a few tweaks.
José Berríos‘ Curveball
https://gfycat.com/quarrelsomesparsegalapagostortoise
I really wish the broadcast showed a slo-mo of this pitch. It’s gorgeous. It’s stunning. It also loves to eat chocolate ice cream on the couch and binge-watch F1: Drive To Survive on Netflix (which is a wildly underrated show). It’s perfect.
Jesús Luzardo’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/scalypopularaztecant
Pitcher on pitcher crime! Sir, that’s assault! This is a felony. By the power vested in me by the great state of Maine, you are sentenced to 45 days in prison, AKA loanDepot park.
Shohei Ohtani’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/harmlessfirmallosaurus
It feels like I always say this about Shohei Ohtani, but nothing I say here can put into perspective just how awesome Shohei Ohtani was last night. A home run, eight innings of elite pitching, and eight innings of being the coolest dude in Baseball at the same time. Actually, that didn’t end after just eight innings. He still is the coolest dude in baseball this morning.
Louis Head’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/kindheartedplaintiveelephantbeetle
Louis Head. Never heard of him… until now. And that slider is simply perfect. Just a tip for you, Mr. Head: keep throwing more of these.
Bonus: Caleb Thielbar Overlay
Caleb Thielbar has been one of my favorite relievers to watch this year. He's got a Fastball/Slider/Curveball repertoire and one of the dopest nicknames in the game (Meat Raffle)
Here's a nasty three-pitch at-bat + overlay against Yu Chang from today's game pic.twitter.com/U0Say8N6v7
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) August 19, 2021
Meat Raffle threw only three CSW pitches yesterday and they were all back to back to back in a three-pitch at-bat. Very impressive stuff.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)