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.
Tarik Skubal’s Fastball
Just like everyone drew up, the Rockies beat Tarik Skubal and his AL-leading 2.50 ERA in Detroit. The good news, though, is he looks to have avoided a serious injury after taking a comebacker on his right wrist in the sixth. Perhaps annoyed after Jordan Beck took him deep moments earlier, Skubal reached back for something extra against the next batter, Aaron Schunk, in the third.
Sonny Gray’s Sweeper
The Cardinals are just two games above .500 and out of the playoff picture. However, the least of their worries has been Sonny Gray who is on the verge of his second 200-strikeout season after fanning nine Reds en route to his 13th win. His sweeper yielded seven whiffs on 10 swings, including Will Benson who was caught betwixt and between to end the third.
Hayden Birdsong’s Changeup
William Contreras entered the night leading all qualified catchers with a .357 wOBA and 130 wRC+. However, a beautiful changeup from Giants rookie Hayden Birdsong made mincemeat of the hard-hitting backstop.
Frankie Montas‘ Splitter
Birdsong did well, holding the Brewers scoreless through five in last night’s pitcher’s duel at Oracle Park. However, his counterpart Frankie Montas was even better, racking up eight punchouts (19 whiffs) while holding the home team off the scoreboard through seven. His seventh strikeout came on this nosediving spitter to Brett Wisely.
Kumar Rocker’s Slider
Originally drafted by the Mets 10th overall three summers ago out of Vanderbilt, Kumar Rocker found his path to the bigs delayed by a shoulder procedure and then later by Tommy John surgery. However, we finally witnessed Rocker’s ballyhooed slider in action last night and it was something else, earning a 62% whiff rate. The 24-year-old rookie finished the night with seven punchouts, the sixth coming courtesy of this awkward hack from Luke Raley. Fun fact: Rocker’s father is the defensive line coach for the Tennessee Titans.
Ian Hamilton’s Slider
Hamilton recently returned from a stint on the 60-day IL with a lat strain. His surface stats, including a 4.18 ERA and 1.45 WHIP, aren’t great but he’s got a terrific slider that has yielded a 45.2% whiff rate, arming the Yankee pen with another arm that can mitigate righties. He relieved Nestor Cortes in the sixth and struck out three of the five batters he faced, all righties.
Framber Valdez’s Curveball
Valdez had a sharp day in the office, striking out six while holding the A’s to one earned run on five hits over 6.1 innings. His signature curveball has held opposing batters to a .190 xwOBA (89th percentile among SP) this season while netting a chase rate in the 83rd percentile. Zack Gelof has had a dreadful year, but even a seasoned hitter wouldn’t have been able to do much of anything against this curve from Valdez.
Devin Williams‘ Changeup
Devin Williams entered in the ninth tasked with sealing a 3-0 win and nailed the leadoff hitter Matt Chapman with a perfect Airbender on the outside corner. The next two batters, Mark Canha and Jerar Encarnación, reached with base hits, but Williams buckled down for his 11th save while sealing a well-deserved win for Montas.