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!
Edward Cabrera’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/likablevillainousdeermouse
Rookie Edward Cabrera is off to a solid start after a weak 2021 campaign. Cabrera has fired off two quality starts in his first couple of games, and much of his success is thanks to his absurd mid-90s changeup. Here the victim is Maikel Franco, who can’t make contact with a pitch that has some wild movement and velocity backing it up.
Graham Ashcraft’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/querulousanimateddiamondbackrattlesnake
Speaking of rookies off to a fast start, Graham Ashcraft has pitched solidly in his first few MLB starts. The Reds’ pitcher tossed six quality innings and struck out four, including Daulton Varsho, who swung and missed on this wicked back foot slider.
Emmanuel Clase’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/fastarcticatlanticspadefish
Now that we’ve covered some new faces let’s take a look at Nastiest Pitches mainstay Emmanuel Clase. At this point, it’s almost mundane to watch Clase fire off a 100-mph cutter, but this one at 102 that barely clips the zone is just too good to pass up.
Justin Verlander’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/shoddyelatedcreature
You’d be hard-pressed to find someone more deserving for MLB Comeback Player of the Year than Justin Verlander. After missing all of last season with Tommy John recovery, Verlander is pitching as good as always. Last night he struck out a dozen, including Julio Rodríguez, who was frozen on this filthy curveball.
Alek Manoah’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/quaintglisteninghusky
Alek Manoah continued his early season dominance against a middling Royals lineup last night. Manoah struck out four over six scoreless innings. Three of those Ks came on some filthy front door sinkers, and this one to Carlos Santana was the best of the night.
Kyle Wright’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/craftybestamurstarfish
The Braves have developed some great arms over the past few years, and Kyle Wright is another name to add to that list. Wright struck out seven over eight frames and lowered his ERA to 2.39 on the season. Here he is striking out Matt Davidson on a fierce curveball that dives out of the zone.
Jeffrey Springs‘ Changeup
https://gfycat.com/likablehilariousbovine
Jeffrey Springs pitched well yet again last night, striking out five over six scoreless. Here he gets Tyler O’Neill swinging at an offspeed pitch that just drops out of the zone for strike three.
Michael Kopech’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/sphericalgranularduckling
The White Sox combined to shut out a ferocious Dodgers lineup last night, so let’s tip our hats to two of their best pitches from the game. First off we’ve got this slider from Michael Kopech that just nibbles at the bottom edge of the zone to freeze Chris Taylor.
Aaron Bummer’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/friendlygloriousapatosaur
And lastly, we’ve got another slider, this time courtesy of Aaron Bummer. Bummer gets some insane movement on this pitch that runs in on Hanser Alberto who swings in futility at a breaking ball he stands no shot at.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)