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.
Logan Gilbert’s Splitter
An electrifying debut in the 2024 Major League Baseball season for Seattle Mariners starter Logan Gilbert, who struck out eight and allowed just one extra-base hit through seven solid innings. His beautiful split-finger bamboozled hitters all day and this ripping 82 mph splitter to fell Ceddanne Rafaela was the best of the bunch.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s Splitter
After a disastrous start to his Los Angeles Dodgers career in Korea last week, Japanese sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto answered back with five terrific innings in his debut on US soil. As expected, his lethal split-finger fastball did most of the work as we can see with this 91 mph splitter to strike out Nolan Gorman in the first inning.
Marcus Stroman’s Cutter
There has been a lot of uncertainty around the starting rotation for the New York Yankees but three straight wins over the Houston Astros have tempered things somewhat. The cornerstone has been the performance of the starters and Marcus Stroman duly obliged with six brilliant innings. His cut-fastball was on song and this devastating 86 mph cutter on a 3-2 count was his pitch of the day.
Jordan Hicks‘ Two-Seam Fastball
A first major league win for revived starter Jordan Hicks as he led the San Francisco Giants to a second win of the season thanks to five impressive innings. Hicks mainly relied on his splitter but this fiery 97 mph sinker to strikeout Xander Bogaerts nestled beautifully on the corner of the strike zone.
Jared Jones‘ Slider
The 3-0 Pittsburgh Pirates have a wealth of young talented pitchers hitting the big leagues but none will make quite the impression as Jared Jones, who struck out 10 in his major league debut to earn his first career win. Jones worked his four-seamer in with his nasty slider perfectly and this 87 mph effort to get rid of Nick Gordon shows the command and stuff the youngster has already. Exciting times!
Joe Ryan’s Splitter
A terrific showing from the underrated Joe Ryan helped the Minnesota Twins to consecutive wins. Ryan worked 5.1 innings, striking out five and allowing just three hits and one walk. Ryan’s lovely 87 mph split-finger fastball to strike out veteran Hunter Renfroe was one of the wow moments of the day watching live.
Grayson Rodriguez’s Four-Seam Fastball
Pure heat! Baltimore Orioles young starlet Grayson Rodriguez kept the expectation and momentum on fire with nine strikeouts as his ball club once again humiliated the Los Angeles Angels. This 99 mph heater painted the corner of Aaron Hicks‘ strike zone and set up this young flamethrower for a dominant performance.
David Bednar’s Splitter
Should we get used to featuring Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers in this article this season? I think so. David Bednar shrugged off a delayed spring training and delivered the nastiest splitter of the day – a 94 mph dart that completely fooled Tim Anderson. Wow!
Photos courtesy of Icon Sportswire
Adapted by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram
It’s just a matter of time before Joe Ryan becomes a hitting machine for home runs.
Not on this day, my friend!