Pitcher List was founded on the back of filthy pitches, and we strive to bring you the best of the best every day. However, with over 70+ pitches featured every week, there are a lot to sort through. We ask you, the readers, to vote for your favorite every day, and now is your chance to crown the best of the week.
Every week, we will be featuring the top pitches from each day as voted on by the readers. Then, every Tuesday, you’ll have a chance to vote for your favorite for the week. Make your voice heard in the comments, on Twitter, and in our Discord for which pitch you think is the best!
“Last week” includes the first weekend of the season as well, so we have an insane 25 pitches for you to choose from here. Good luck trying to sort through them all and pick only one.
4/1 – Lucas Giolito’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/soreshortindigowingedparrot
This pitch was a heck of a way to welcome everyone back to baseball season. The best player in the league against one of the best young pitchers. A true war of attrition, won by the young gun and his filthy changeup.
4/2 – Chaz Roe’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/jaggedweepyfieldmouse
Chaz Roe is well known around these parts for his absolutely ridiculous slider. It’s unfortunate that a shoulder injury will rob baseball fans of this wonderful pitch for the next 12 weeks, but I have a feeling we’ll be seeing this a few more times in 2021. Insane.
4/2 – Hirokazu Sawamura’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/totalevergreenalbertosaurus
New Red Sox pitcher Hirokazu Sawamura burst onto the scene in his major league debut in Boston’s opener and he’s been a revolution in the bullpen ever since. He’s only allowed one hit on the young season and it looks like his ridiculous splitter, which is averaging 92.6 mph on the year, will be a weapon for the rest of the year.
4/3 – Tanner Houck’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/complexsafedowitcher
The youngster earned one start early in the year and dazzled with some of his trademark filthy sliders. He threw the pitch 38% of the time and earned a whopping 50% CSW with it. That’s right, 50%. He’s since been sent back down to Triple-A Worcester, but expect him back at some point this season.
4/3 – Corbin Burnes‘ Cutter
https://gfycat.com/artisticdimwittedarabianwildcat
The double-banana (banana = no-hitter) duel between Corbin Burnes and José Berríos has been my favorite game of the year so far, and I’m sure it will rank up there as one of the best all year. Both pitchers were (literally) unhittable from the get-go, striking out opposing batters left and right. Somebody eventually had to budge, and unfortunately for Brewers fans that somebody was Burnes, but it was still a delight for all involved. This filthy 97 mph cutter was just one of many disgusting pitches from Burnes on the night.
4/4 – José Alvarado’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/knobbyappropriatecommabutterfly
José Alvarado has been a weapon in the Phillies’ pen so far this year, earning two wins and a save in his 4.2 innings pitched so far. While Hector Neris remains the closer so far, expect Alvarado to step in and continue earning occasional chances throughout the year with his filthy arsenal.
4/4 – Shohei Ohtani’s Splitter
https://gfycat.com/secretmistyanemone
Another early contender for game of the year was the one man show-hei that Shohei Ohtani put on for everyone during Sunday Night Baseball. The man can literally do it all, both on the mound and at the plate. He also let out some pent up emotion after this critical pitch to strikeout Luis Robert. You truly love to see it.
4/4 – Zach Davies‘ Changeup
https://gfycat.com/mealyimpossiblehorsemouse
Zach Davies isn’t a name that sticks out in my mind when I think about nasty pitches, but he was a finalist for Nastiest Pitch of the Year back in December. That changeup is gross, with a ton of drop and horizontal movement.
4/5 – Adam Ottavino’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/allformalindianpalmsquirrel
A tradition unlike any other. No, not The Masters. Nick would never let me talk about golf on here! I’m talking about Adam Ottavino’s slider being featured among the Nastiest Pitches. It’s one of those tried and true pitches that always seems to find its way here, and for good reason. It’s disgusting.
4/5 – Dustin May’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/HalfFemaleAardwolf
The people love them some Dustin May sinkers, and for good reason. The pitch gets a ton of horizontal movement and it simply looks disgusting nearly every time. It’s unfortunate that he pitches in so many ballparks with poor camera angles — I would love to see him pitch in Baltimore or Tampa Bay, where the angle would really show off that stuff.
4/5 – Jacob deGrom’s Fastball
https://gfycat.com/ExcitableDeadLeveret
Jacob deGrom had a nasty pitch last week — are you shocked? This filthy fastball painted the corner and got a wicked whiff out of Andrew McCutchen, as is tradition.
4/5 – Miguel Castro’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/considerateglossygraysquirrel
101 mph with late ride and a ton of horizontal break. FILTHY. Miguel Castro is on my must-watch reliever list, right up there with Devin Williams and Adam Ottavino, and he should be on yours too.
4/6 – Lucas Giolito’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/earlyunawareamurstarfish
Yeah, so we all love Lucas Giolito’s changeup, but which one is better? This or the one against Mike Trout? Thankfully it’s not up to me to decide, because I’m not sure I could pick only one.
4/6 – Miguel Castro’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/heartythoseazurevasesponge
The same thing I said for that last Giolito blurb goes for Miguel Castro here. Another gorgeous sinker, this time painting the corner at 99 mph to completely fool Roman Quinn. Amazing.
4/7 – Jordan Hicks‘ Sinker
https://gfycat.com/delightfulvioletbassethound
A 102 mph bullet from Jordan Hicks looks impossible to hit. Jon Berti probably thinks so too. This is simply unfair.
4/7 – Justin Dunn’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/slimevilanemonecrab
I love this pitch. I love the movement, I love the slo-mo, and I love the ridiculous swing by the reigning AL MVP. Justin Dunn may be a walks machine (eight in this start alone), but he’s got some filthy stuff that could help him turn into a dominant starter if he can figure out some command issues. I can’t wait to see more of him in 2021.
4/7 – Shane Bieber’s Knuckle-Curve
https://gfycat.com/colorfulshadowyfox
The reigning AL Cy Young winner struck out 12 batters in each of his first two starts of the season, yet only one of his pitches is featured here this week. Are we having Shane Bieber fatigue? Nah, it was just that good of a week in the NP department. This is disgusting, and Kyle Isbel didn’t know what to do with it at all.
4/8 – José Berríos‘ Curveball
https://gfycat.com/sharpeasybluebottlejellyfish
This pitch wasn’t from the epic Burnes-Berríos showdown, but it was still super nasty. The bat drop from Dylan Moore is the correct reaction to this filth.
4/8 – Garrett Whitlock’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/easysharpjaguarundi
Garrett Whitlock has been fantastic out of the bullpen for Boston so far this season, and between him, Sawamura, and Ottavino, it’s looking like the Red Sox have put together an excellent bullpen in 2021. Now if only they could figure out what to do in the first five innings of the game …
4/9 – Chris Rodriguez’s Knuckle-Curve
https://gfycat.com/wavywelldocumentedeuropeanpolecat
Chris Rodriguez is an electric factory on the mound. He features a high-90s sinker with ridiculous movement to go along with this epic knuckle-curve. Between these two pitches, I don’t know how opposing batters are going to hit him at all this season.
4/9 – Johnny Cueto’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/scrawnyquarrelsomechinchilla
Johnny Cueto triple-shimmied his way into consideration for Nastiest Pitch of the Week after nearly throwing a complete game last week against the Rockies. This timeless treasure is one of the most entertaining pitchers in the game, and we love to see him have the level of success that he had. Keep it up, Johnny!
4/10 – Jacob deGrom’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/pleasantopencowbird
deGoat makes another appearance on this list. Are you surprised? You shouldn’t be. I’m sure he’ll be here next week too. And the next … and the next …
4/10 – Jimmy Nelson’s Knuckle-Curve
https://gfycat.com/spicyshamefulaquaticleech
After all of the injuries, all of the inconsistency, will Jimmy Nelson finally develop into a dominant reliever in 2021? I sure hope so. He let out years of frustration after this pitch and he absolutely deserved this moment. Keep it up Jimmy; hopefully we’ll see more of you around these parts this year.
4/11 – Anthony DeSclafani’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/GoodnaturedShallowGoat
Here’s a guy you love to root for. Tony “Le Disko” looks to finally be putting it together after a move to the Bay Area. The sinker had a lowly 13% CSW on the day, but we’re only looking for one to be nasty and he sure delivered on this pitch.
4/11 –Kenley Jansen’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/MediocreReliableCrownofthornsstarfish
Kenley Jansen has struggled in the past couple seasons but this 94 mph cutter looks like the Kenley of old. Baseball is more fun when Jansen is dominating batters out of the back end of the Dodgers’ bullpen, so hopefully he has figured something out to return him to his past glory.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)