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!
Before we get started, I’d like to take a quick moment to give a shoutout to Nate, Bill, and my uncle Dan (oh, and Slugger). We went to see the Portland Sea Dogs play the Reading Fightin Phils last night and it was a great time as always.
With the summer drawing to a close, the minor league baseball season is quickly wrapping up and will be over before you know it. If you have a team nearby, whether it’s minor league, independent league, or something else, I implore you to go out and enjoy a game once more before the end of the year. Bring the family, bring some friends, have a hot dog and a beverage, and enjoy a nice summer evening at a ballpark.
We all love baseball and the pandemic nearly took it away from us completely last year. The major league teams powered through but many minor league teams struggled mightily. They would love your support. You may take them for granted (I certainly did), so please support them one last time before the season is over. You never know when they’re going to fold or go away for good…
Shohei Ohtani’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/whichoblongjaguar
Shohei Ohtani may have given up four runs over five innings of work, but he still had the stuff to strike out seven Orioles on the night. Is it ideal that Ohtani is the one to finally help give Baltimore their first win in the last 20 games? No, but someone had to do it eventually. Just enjoy this pitch and move on.
Brandon Woodruff’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/wickeduntriedbantamrooster
I don’t usually do this. I always start and end my GIFs with the pitch itself. I never include a GIF that starts with one camera angle and then jumps to another, simply because it’s too jarring for the viewer and it’s honestly not a fun experience.
Well, I’m making an exception here. Can you figure out what’s going on with this GIF and why it doesn’t make any sense? Hint: It’s pitcher-on-pitcher crime. (Oh, and the pitch is filthy)
Lucas Giolito’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/creepymildbuzzard
Poor Teoscar Hernández struck out three times on Lucas Giolito’s filth. Giolito had the changeup working to the tune of a 41% CSW, but the rest of his stuff wasn’t quite as good, unfortunately. Visually, Giolito appears to have one of the slowest changeups in the game, and that has to completely throw batters for a loop.
Lucas Sims‘ Slider
https://gfycat.com/gloriousforthrightafricanclawedfrog
This wicked slider courtesy of Lucas Sims explodes out of his hand and was no match at all for Lorenzo Cain. This was the third straight slider in the three-pitch at-bat, with each one thrown further outside of the zone. I can’t blame you, Lorenzo, I’d swing at this 10/10 times.
Edward Cabrera’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/baggyunrealisticbeaver
The rookie made his MLB debut and, while I didn’t catch much of it, this pitch was naaaasty. Be sure to check out Andy Patton’s GIF Breakdown of Cabrera’s outing if you haven’t already.
Robbie Ray’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/formalfavoriteconch
Robbie Ray had himself one heck of a night. 14 strikeouts over seven strong innings is ridiculous. The slider had a 38% CSW on the night as he peppered righties down and in just like he did here to Yoán Moncada. Shoutout Christopher Reeves – hopefully SDS watched this start and saw enough for Ray to go Diamond in MLB The Show.
Zach Davies‘ Changeup
https://gfycat.com/dismaleasyangelfish
Zach Davies gets so much late drop on this changeup, Dom Nuñez has no chance but to swing over the top of it.
Zack Wheeler’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/blondidenticalaustralianfreshwatercrocodile
More pitcher-on-pitcher crime! Speaking of pitcher-on-pitcher crime, if you didn’t pick up on it in the Brandon Woodruff GIF above, the camera showed Reds’ second baseman Jonathan India getting ready to swing at the pitch, however, he was in the on-deck circle and it was actually pitcher Luis Castillo who whiffed at the pitch. Go back and look at it and you’ll see it now, especially if you focus on the arms. Just a little mind trickery for you on a Thursday morning.
Tarik Skubal’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/tornperkydutchshepherddog
The camera angle really doesn’t do this pitch justice. Tarik Skubal once again struck out double-digit batters and he is looking a lot like a future ace, much to the enjoyment of our own Scott Chu (who is a die-hard Tigers/Skubal fan).
Caleb Thielbar’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/ablefoolishirishterrier
The man affectionately known as Meat Raffle released this devastating curveball on Xander Bogaerts in the bottom of the seventh inning. Thielbar threw a lot of curveballs early in the season but has, for the most part, stuck with his fastball-slider combo ever since. It’s a filthy pitch when he decides to use it, and batters are often caught off guard like Bogaerts is here.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)