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.
Tanner Houck’s Sinker
The Red Sox dropped their fifth in a row as they fell back to .500 and 10.5 back in the East. Wednesday marked Tanner Houck’s ninth straight start without a win, but it has not been all his fault as the young righty has remained a rock in the Red Sox rotation. He struck out seven on Wednesday and put away Tyrone Taylor on a running sinker.
Bowden Francis‘ Slider
Wednesday was Bowden Francis’ first loss since he became a full-time starter in the Jays’ rotation, but he still put together a quality start in the effort. He struck out six in as many innings and got Nick Castellanos to chase a nasty slider.
Charlie Morton’s Curveball
Charlie Morton is still getting it done at the age of 40, guiding Atlanta to a victory over the visiting Rockies. Morton showed off his classic curve to get Brenton Doyle swinging.
Zac Gallen’s Knuckle-Curve
Zac Gallen tossed six hitless innings in San Francisco and led the Diamondbacks to a win as they look to keep pace in the Wild Card race. Gallen struck out eight on the evening. Mike Yastrzemski had no chance on this breaking ball that fell off the table.
Hayden Birdsong’s Slider
Hayden Birdsong started opposite Gallen in this one and did not enjoy the same success as the D-Backs hurler. Birdsong only lasted three innings but struck out four and tied up Geraldo Perdomo on a nice backfoot slider.
Griffin Canning’s Slider
2024 has been an up-and-down affair for Griffin Canning, but Wednesday proved to be a strong outing for the Angels’ righty. Canning showed off a great slider to one of MLB’s top hitters in Shohei Ohtani.
Bobby Miller’s Changeup
Bobby Miller opposed Canning in the battle of L.A. clubs and ran into trouble early. Miller allowed five runs before recording an out but would settle down after that to make it through five innings. Brandon Drury swung over the top of a great Miller changeup in the first.
Nathan Eovaldi’s Curveball
Nathan Eovaldi picked up his eleventh win of the season as the Rangers took two of three from the visiting Yankees. He struck out six over seven innings and struck out Giancarlo Stanton twice, on nearly identical pitches, the second of which is shown here.
Sonny Gray’s Sweeper
Sonny Gray tossed seven innings of one-run ball but would pick up a no-decision as the Cardinals would win this one in extras. Gray struck out seven and got Joey Ortiz to swing through a great sweeper in the fifth.
Danny Young’s Sweeper
The lone reliever on tonight’s list, Danny Young, picked up the win for the Mets as they swept the visiting Red Sox. Young’s lone K of the night came on a filthy sweeper way out of the zone.
Photos courtesy of Icon Sportswire. Adapted by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)