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.
Framber Valdez’s Curveball
We kick things off with Framber Valdez striking out Davis Schneider on three pitches. Valdez used his signature curveball, which he throws about a quarter of the time, to do the damage here against Schneider. The day after being no hit by Ronel Blanco, the Blue Jays failed to score a run of Valdez, who has a no-hitter on his resume from last season.
Jesús Luzardo’s Slider
Jesús Luzardo makes Aaron Hicks take an ugly swing off this slider. Hicks got payback in his next at bat though, taking Luzardo deep for his first homer of the year. This was one of five Ks for Luzardo, who gave up three earned runs in 5.1 innings of work.
Reynaldo López’s Curveball
Gavin Sheets half-swings at this curve thrown by Reynaldo López. Facing his former team, Lopez elected to go with his curveball, which he threw just 1.5% of the time last season with the White Sox. Lopez is mostly a fastball pitcher, but proved his breaking pitches can put batters off balance.
Tyler Anderson’s Changeup
You know it’s nasty when the batter’s helmet come off. Tyler Anderson gets Bryan De La Cruz to chase this changeup outside the zone. Anderson throws a heavy dose of changeups to opponents, a 33.7% frequency.
José Berríos‘ Slider
José Berríos is a machine. He has started all 32 games for five non-Covid seasons in a row. He makes quick work of Victor Caratini here in the bottom of the third to keep the game scoreless. Batters whiff at pitches thrown outside the zone from Berrios at a 31.5% clip.
Garrett Crochet’s Fastball
Facing the scariest hitter on the planet, Crochet delivers a beautiful inside fastball at 95mph to catch Ronald Acuña looking. Crochet was making just his second start here. He went seven innings and gave up only one earned run while striking out eight against the most lethal lineup in baseball. Also, that leg kick is unmatched.
Dillon Tate’s Slider
More of an unknown commodity for Baltimore, Tate missed the entirety of 2023 with a right elbow injury. In his last full season in 2022, he had just a 20.5% strikeout rate but a respectable 5.5% walk rate. Here he showed off that slider movement with a pitch that pulled away from Garrett Hampson.
Zach Eflin’s Curveball
Eflin brought Corey Seager to one knee here with this 80 mph curveball. It was one of five punch outs for Eflin on the night, who surrendered just one run to the defending world champs. Being more of a junk ball pitcher himself, Eflin throws six different pitches with his curveball utilized the second-most, at 26.5%.