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!
Mike Foltynewicz’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/constantoccasionalleafhopper
Yeah, this one is a beaut. Folty has struggled along his baseball path the last few years, so it’s good to see him back throwing filth at a high level. This pitch was a ball for about 95% of the time it was in the air before it darted right back across the corner of the plate, and there was nothing that Shohei Ohtani could do. (H/t PL+ member Christopher Reeves)
Bruce Zimmermann’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/conventionalleafybluemorphobutterfly
Trevor Rogers may have gotten the best of Zimmermann on Wednesday, but ol’ Bruce still pitched pretty well for most of this one. He unraveled in the 5th inning and was responsible for all three earned runs in this one, but that curveball to burgeoning star Jazz Chisholm was fillllllthy. (H/t PL+ member nvita)
Devin Williams’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/academicspitefulhippopotamus
Are you getting sick of these yet? Because I sure ain’t. Here’s the thing with Devin Williams; He’s been pretty wild so far this season. Control was an issue for him in the minors, and he just happened to put it all together last year. That’s okay, though. I think we all expected some regression from him in 2021 after his performance in 2020. I just don’t think anyone expected him to get called on in the 7th inning of a two run ballgame against the Padres. But it doesn’t matter, because he’s still filthy.
Corey Kluber’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/annualnippyamoeba
This nasty slider to strike out Dansby Swanson was one of only two strikeouts on the night for Kluber in his 4 2/3 innings of work. The curve was his most frequently thrown pitch on the night and it only earned a 15% CSW, which is not great, but all we need is one for our purposes and this one was fantastic.
Drew Pomeranz’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/incompatiblesinfulallosaurus
This pitch by Drew Pomeranz looked like it was shot out of a cannon. Seriously, this thing looks way faster than 85 MPH. What happened here? Daniel Robertson sure didn’t know what was going on, as he whiffed right through this one.
Tejay Antone’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/unsightlynervousdrever
Tejay Antone has been a revelation out of the Reds’ bullpen this season, mixing in filthy stuff with great results. 38.8% CSW on his slider is pretty dang good, small sample size and all, and Wyatt Mathisen truly did not have a chance at this one.
Chris Rodriguez’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/perfectlivealaskankleekai
Chris Rodriguez is my Devin Williams this season. I seek out every time he pitches because I know I’m going to find something nasty. Sure enough, we have this filthy sinker that just touches the plate, as well as a gorgeous behind-the-plate angle that shows off that sick late movement.
David Peterson’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/hiddenwaterygrayling
We finish this installment of Nastiest Pitches with a slider from David Peterson. He fell apart shortly after this nasty slider to get Ian Happ swinging, so we won’t talk about that. The first 3 1/3 innings by Peterson were great! A 33% CSW on the slider is also pretty good. Don’t look at the rest of the box score, it’s not worth the pain. (H/t PL+ member nvita)
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)