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!
Dillon Maples‘ Sinker
https://gfycat.com/imaginativetimelyaffenpinscher
Talk about a sinker that actually sinks! I’ve always thought the sinker is a silly pitch that doesn’t do what the name would imply. Sure, most do have some drop, but their nastiness comes from their horizontal break. And yes, the camera angle is masking some of that horizontal movement in this one. It’s definitely there. But the drop? Unmistakable. And very sinky.
Emmanuel Clase’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/alivehideousgrayling
The pitch before this was a ridiculous 102 MPH cutter from Emmanuel Clase, and this slider is legitimately criminal. Side note – why don’t catchers wear body cams? I feel like that would be a lot of fun from a viewer’s perspective.
Jeurys Familia’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/realgrizzledantbear
Jeurys Familia threw a similar pitch in on Monday, but this one was too good not to include. Again, I love a good sinky sinker and this one sinks like the sinkiest sinkers in sinkerville.
Michael Wacha’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/bigheartedpettycottontail
Michael Wacha is a guy who I wanted to succeed so badly back in, like, 2015-2016 when he was on my long term keeper team. I thought I had the ace of the future. Sadly it didn’t pan out that way, but now that he’s with the Rays he’s back on the up and up. Sitting 94/95 with your fastball and then throwing this 88 MPH junkball changeup is a recipe for success and I really hope he can continue to capitalize on it.
Tanner Houck’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/flawedbrightfly
Tanner Houck is back doing nasty things in Boston. That’s a 39% CSW on 28 thrown. Give me more of this, please. I can’t get enough of this in my life.
Lucas Giolito’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/bogusincomparablegoitered
Lucas Giolito’s changeup doesn’t have the crazy airbender movement we see out of a Devin Williams, but it is still incredibly effective. It has a 34.9% CSW on the season and this one looks like it takes an hour to get to the plate, completely fooling Carlos Santana.
Max Fried’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/grandpleasedjaguar
Max Fried’s curveball is one of the prettiest pitches around. It’s got a great shape and the velocity plays very well off his other pitches. A 53.1% CSW with the pitch last night is otherworldly. He’s truly a joy to watch on the mound.
Nick Sandlin’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/enchantedajarfinwhale
This sinker from Nick Sandlin is all kinds of nasty, but it honestly stuck out to me because of a slider earlier in the at-bat that Paul Goldschmidt also whiffed on. When overlayed on top of each other, it makes for one filthy GIF.
https://gfycat.com/ajarimpressionableape
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)