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. If your suggestion is included the next day, you’ll be entered into a weekly drawing for a free t-shirt. If you’re not already a PL+ member, you’re missing out!
Jorge López’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/deepglassichthyostega
López hasn’t quite been the same since he came over to Minnesota. Throughout 2022 he has used his sinker about half the time and it is pretty average. Based on the good horizontal movement he gets from it, like here, he could get a lot of called strikes if he can locate like this. Based on his strike zone plot, however, he doesn’t command it that well.
Emmanuel Clase’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/richmeanafricanmolesnake
Clase again. What a surprise…A 100.4 mph cutter at the top of the zone will do that. A 45.1% O-Swing% on a cutter is very good.
Shane Bieber’s Knuckle Curve
https://gfycat.com/alarmingjauntybluetickcoonhound
Other than his Fastball Velocity, the sliders on Bieber’s Pitcher List page are all red. His curve has a 42.3% O-Swing%, 22.7% Swinging Strike%, .194 AVG, and .219 wOBA.
Hunter Greene’s Fastball
https://gfycat.com/freshfamiliardairycow
We all know Greene’s flaws early in his career, but we also know he can do this. 102.4 mph just above the zone. It wasn’t even his fastest pitch of the game. He did a good job on the day hitting this area with his fastball.
Brandon Woodruff’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/relieveddeepamphiuma
Typically Woodruff’s curveball is nothing special, but this goes to show that he is capable of spinning a real nasty one in excellent locations. If he were to throw this in that spot he would get a lot of swings-and-misses from the struggling Hicks.
Devin Williams‘ Changeup
https://gfycat.com/colorfulacclaimedherring
A changeup that is thrown 57% of the time should not get the results that Williams’ does. A 43.6% O-Swing%, 22.2% Swinging Strike%, and .224 wOBA all exemplify why it is one of the best pitches in MLB.
Chris Bassitt’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/informalinbornamericanrobin
This is a very pretty pitch, both because of its movement and location. Bassitt has a very good curveball and he has yet to give up a home run on it despite having thrown 372 of them in 2022.
Shohei Ohtani’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/kindparallelkodiakbear
Ohtani.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)