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!
Shohei Ohtani’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/distantimpartialbufeo
Who else? Shohei Ohtani struck out 11 during the Angels…err, 2-0 loss to the Rangers. Yes, Ohtani was sensational and yes the Angels lost again and remain an irrelevant ball club in the AL West. The Japanese sensation was electric through six excellent innings, and this vicious 91 mph split-finger fastball to strike out Kole Calhoun was his pitch of the night.
Ryan Yarbrough’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/rectangularphonyfruitfly
Rays enigmatic lefty Ryan Yarbrough tormented the Orioles with his devastating cutter all day, striking out seven with the pitch including this beautifully located 80 mph effort to strike out hot bat Ramón Urías.
Félix Bautista’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/oblongflippantivorybackedwoodswallow
The Orioles have found a dominant arm for the ninth inning in Félix Bautista, the former Marlins international free agent who is making his debut in the Majors for Baltimore in 2022. He has been lights out recently and struck out all three batters earning his third save of the season. This delightful 88 mph split-fastball was far too good for René Pinto.
Zack Wheeler’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/mellowcautiousamericanlobster
Phillies veteran Zack Wheeler earned his ninth win of the season on the back of seven strong innings in which he racked up eight strikeouts, including this nasty 94 mph outside-in two-seam fastball to punch out Ben Gamel.
Brady Singer’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/unluckyorderlyalligator
Speaking of phenomenal sinkers, Brady Singer gave the two fingers to former teammate Andrew Benintendi with this exquisite 95 mph two-seamer that nicks the insider of the strike zone. Beautiful.
Clay Holmes‘ Sinker
https://gfycat.com/responsiblepleaseddoctorfish
Ok, so I am just addicted to sinkers at this stage. Clay Holmes with a 98 mph two-seam ripper to embarrass Michael A. Taylor. Lovely.
Logan Gilbert’s Four-Seam Fastball
https://gfycat.com/crispevergreenenglishpointer
Logan Gilbert has one of the most aggressive four-seam fastballs in baseball and it has some vicious lift high in the zone, beautifully exhibited here in a 96 mph strike out of Chas McCormick.
James Karinchak’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/brightajardachshund
Fiery young Guardians reliever James Karinchak was fired up during Cleveland’s narrow loss to the Red Sox and his emotion shone through after striking out Christian Vázquez to end the inning with a lovely 84 mph curveball perfectly placed at the top of the strike zone.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)