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.
Shota Imanaga’s Fastball
How do you ingratiate yourself with your new team and its fans? If you’re Shota Imanaga, you do this. The left-hander piped a 94-mile-per-hour fastball on Brenton Doyle’s hands to record his fourth strikeout of the afternoon. Imanaga didn’t stop there, allowing two hits over six shutout innings while striking out nine hitters for a sensational MLB debut. Cubs fans, meet Shota Imanaga, your new favorite pitcher.
MacKenzie Gore’s Slider
Despite using a fastball 59.5% of the time last year, MacKenzie Gore switched to this slider in a crucial spot in his first inning this season. With two men on and one out, Gore unfurled this gem against outfielder Andrew McCutchen. Gore followed that up with another similarly stellar slider to Edward Olivares to strand the Pirates’ potential rally. If Gore can consistently drop sliders like these into his arsenal, watch out, Washington.
Charlie Morton’s Curveball
Father Time is undefeated, but he’s yet to claim Charlie Morton or his curveball. The 40-year-old can still spin it with the best of them, evident by this beautiful curve to Martín Maldonado. Morton can still pitch with the best of them, too, going five and two-thirds shutout innings against the White Sox with six punch-outs to open his season.
Roansy Contreras‘ Slider
With a 6.59 ERA in 19 games, Roansy Contreras struggled to succeed last year. If Contreras can throw more sliders like this one to Trey Lipscomb, 2024 might be a different story for the starter-turned-reliever.
Cristopher Sánchez’s Changeup
The Phillies starting rotation is headlined by All-Stars like Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler, but don’t sleep on Cristopher Sánchez. The 27-year-old dropped this beautiful changeup to send Stuart Fairchild to a knee. Sanchez would strike out the side for three of his eight K’s on the night.
Max Meyer’s Slider
Welcome back to baseball, Max Meyer. After missing the 2023 season due to Tommy John surgery, the former third-overall pick returned to the mound on Monday. Meyer started his night on the right foot, striking out Nolan Schanuel on this nasty slider that rose like a spire and dropped like a stone. All told, Meyer struck out four hitters across five innings.
Sean Manaea’s Fastball
Shota Imanaga wasn’t the only one to impress in his first start with a new team. Sean Manaea no-hit the Tigers through five and two-thirds in his Mets debut, a franchise record. Manaea’s fastball was perfect all night, collecting four of his eight strikeouts, but this inside fastball to Andy Ibáñez was his best all night. The veteran infielder could only stop and stare at the pitch before Manaea resumed his domination against Detroit.
Ronel Blanco’s Changeup
How about a little history in Houston to close out Monday’s list? The only way for Ronel Blanco to upstage Imanaga’s debut and Manaea’s no-hit bid was to throw a no-hitter. He did just that in his eighth career start, thanks to changeups like this. Blanco’s changeup devastated Blue Jay hitters all night, accounting for his seven strikeouts, but this changeup to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the seventh stood out above the rest.
Photos courtesy of Icon Sportswire
Adapted by Kurt Wasemiller (@kurtwasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram