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!
Alek Manoah’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/AdorableSpanishHoneycreeper
Alek Manoah certainly knows how to bend a sinker. Take a look at this wicked pitch that starts up and inside before dashing down and into the zone to freeze Cesar Hernandez for strike three. It was the first K of the day in what was a quality outing for Manoah, and it was also his best.
Nathan Eovaldi’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/MiserablePortlyAmberpenshell
Nathan Eovaldi pitched masterfully against the Rangers yesterday and here’s just a small taste of his seven innings of one-run ball. Here, it’s a backwards K for Eovaldi, and it’s one that just nibbles at the outer edge to freeze Nate Lowe. Just beautiful.
Huascar Ynoa’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/OfficialUnnaturalGroundhog
Yesterday, Huascar Ynoa made his first appearance since May, as he faced the Yankees for his first start off the 60 day IL. Ynoa went for six solid innings, as he struck out nine opposing hitters, including DJ LeMahieu who swings at this perfectly placed slider for strike three.
Lance Lynn’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/farfluffyafricanwilddog
Moving on, we’ve got Lance Lynn and his disgusting changeup. Lynn only put four batters down on strikes, and honestly it was tough to choose between this and his wild cutter. But this pitch from Lynn was just placed much better than his cutter was, so I opted for the offspeed.
Wil Crowe’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/IllustriousEachDowitcher
Wil Crowe pitched solidly through his first few innings before utterly collapsing in the fifth inning. However, he still got in a bunch of nasty Ks with his changeup. This one was my favorite from the outing, a perfectly located changeup that dots the corner for a called strike three.
Garrett Whitlock’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/GrouchyDirtyHydra
Moving back to the Red Sox, this time we’re featuring reliever Garrett Whitlock who played an essential role in keeping the Red Sox alive in this one. He pitched 2.2 innings and struck out four (and only allowed one unearned run to score). Here he gets his filthiest K of the night, a slider that drops out on Jose Trevino.
Humberto Mejía’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/UnrulyLightKitten
Next, we have a filthy changeup from Humberto Mejía. Mejía might not be the most familiar name, but he made easy work of the Pirates last night, with seven strikeouts over five innings. Here he notched a K on his filthiest pitch of the night. It’s a changeup that runs away from Ben Gamel, who swings straight through it.
Craig Kimbrel’s Knuckle-Curve
https://gfycat.com/WholeGiddyAndeancondor
Lastly, we have a vicious curveball courtesy of Craig Kimbrel. Kimbrel allowed the go ahead run just before this pitch, but its filthiness is still deserving of a feature this morning.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)