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.
Kyle Hendricks’ Curveball
After a rough start to the season, veteran Kyle Hendricks found himself out of the Cubs’ starting rotation and into the bullpen. He returned to the starter’s role on Wednesday and put forth his best performance of the season, allowing just one run while striking out eight. He got Michael Conforto on a nice sweeping breaking ball.
Matt Waldron’s Knuckle Ball
Baseball is better with a knuckleballer in the bigs, and Matt Waldron has played that role admirably as he picked up his fifth win of the season Wednesday in Philly. He struck out six and fooled Nick Castellanos on this dancing knuckler.
Ranger Suarez’s Curveball
Ranger Suarez entered Wednesday as the betting favorite for the NL Cy Young award and did little to hurt his chances vs the Padres. He tossed six innings of one-run ball and put away Donovan Solano on a great curve here in the sixth.
Hunter Greene’s Four-Seam Fastball
Hunter Green managed one of the best pitching performances of the day early Wednesday afternoon in Pittsburgh as the fireballer recorded six and a third shutout innings while striking out nine. After getting Andrew McCutchen on a slider the at-bat prior, Green overpowered him with 100 at the top of the zone.
Tarik Skubal’s Slider
Tarik Skubal wasn’t at his best on Wednesday, lasting only four innings while allowing five runs. He still accomplished seven punchouts and got Jarred Kelenic to chase a nasty slider out of the zone.
Yonny Chirinos’ Splitter
Veteran Yonny Chirinos made his 2024 debut on Wednesday after spending the first half of the year in Triple-A. He gave the Marlins all they could have asked for with five innings of two-run ball in what would become a Miami walk-off victory. Chirinos struck out six and dropped a nasty splitter here to Pedro Pages.
Kevin Gausman’s Splitter
Kevin Gausman and the Jays hosted the streaking Red Sox, looking to halt their momentum and keep pace in the AL East race. Gausman, however, allowed five runs over his five and two-thirds innings of work. He struck out Masataka Yoshida on a nasty splitter.
Brayan Bello’s Sinker
Brayan Bello opposed Gausman in this one with the Red Sox young righty looking to right the ship after a run of rough outings. While the results still weren’t quite what the Sox may have been looking for, it was enough for the win, and Bello punched out Vladimir Guerrero Jr on a great running sinker.
Hunter Brown’s Knuckle-Curve
Hunter Brown began the year with a few tough starts but has since turned it around and entered Wednesday coming off back-to-back scoreless outings. He carried that momentum early into Wednesday’s start and put away Gavin Sheets on a breaking ball that completely fell off the table.
Garrett Crochet’s Cutter
Trade speculation has begun to surround Garrett Crochet, but the White Sox lefty seems to pay no mind as he continues to rack up whiffs. He struck out another eight on Wednesday and got Mauricio Dubon on a filthy back-foot cutter.
Photos courtesy of Icon Sportswire. Adapted by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)