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.
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Zack Greinke’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/desertedshamefuliberiannase
We will start this edition of Nastiest Pitches with a veteran to these articles, Zack Greinke. One of the league’s most interesting pitchers, Greinke normally does not find himself racking up a large number of strikeouts. But on Friday, he tied his season-high with nine strikeouts in his five innings of work, including this changeup down and away to Daulton Varsho, which he could not hold up his swing on.
Sixto Sánchez’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/unfinishedwideblesbok
Moving from a veteran starter to a rookie who we will be seeing on this list for many years to come and has taken the league by storm, Sixto Sánchez. Starting the first game of a doubleheader on Friday, Sanchez had the worst start of his young career, giving up eight hits in only four innings of work and only two strikeouts. But he did make it onto this list with a similar changeup down and away to Asdrubal Cabrera, waving at it to try and make any contact.
Zach Eflin’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/bigbleakhornedtoad
In the first game of a doubleheader, Zach Eflin saved the Phillies from having to use their bullpen by throwing a complete-game shutout with nine strikeouts. The nastiest of these strikeouts was this curveball to Teoscar Hernández, causing him to swing down on the ball and not have any chance of making contact.
Tyler Glasnow’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/severalcarefulindianglassfish
Tyler Glasnow struck out 10 Orioles in his five innings of work in their 2-1 win on Monday. The best of his pitches was his curveball, with a 33% CSW and 46% whiffs on the pitch, including this curveball to get the red-hot Ryan Mountcastle down swinging.
Martín Pérez’s Two-Seam Fastball
https://gfycat.com/someflawlessherculesbeetle
This Yankees lineup has been very difficult to slow down of late and Martín Pérez did a great job on Monday quieting New York through six shutout innings and seven strikeouts. One of these strikeouts was this two-seam fastball painting back across the inside corner catching the MLB home run leader, Luke Voit down looking.
Kyle Hendricks‘ Changeup
https://gfycat.com/honoredblackandwhitehen
Nothing beats a good old fashioned pitcher’s duel and that is what we got on Monday night between the Twins and the Cubs. Coming out victorious in this matchup was Kyle Hendricks who pitched his way to eight shutout innings and ten strikeouts, a new season-high. Among those strikeouts was this 79 miles per hour changeup away from Mitch Garver sending him down swinging.
Rich Hill’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/cheerydisguisedhypacrosaurus
Matching Hendricks batter-per-batter in this pitcher’s duel was Rich Hill, who took the loss in his seven innings of work allowing only one run in their 1-0 loss. Here we see him spotting a curveball perfectly down and in to Kris Bryant where all he could do is watch it go by and take the slow walk back to the dugout.
Garrett Crochet’s Fastball
https://gfycat.com/defiantcleardromedary
The first of the 2020 draft class to make his Major League debut was Garrett Crochet pitching a scoreless inning with two strikeouts in his debut. All of that is impressive and even more impressive was that he touched 100 miles per hour and even more multiple times, including his first career strikeout here spotting a fastball at the knees at 100 miles per hour, sending Brian Goodwin down looking.
Zach Plesac’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/weeklyraggedestuarinecrocodile
Zach Plesac had a fantastic start on Friday, one that included an immaculate inning. While this strikeout was not part of his immaculate inning, it was one of his 11 strikeouts in 7.2 shutout innings. Here we see a changeup down causing Niko Goodrum to swing through it and go down for the third time of the night.
Chris Bassitt’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/impracticalfaroffakitainu
Chris Bassitt was very impressive on Friday night throwing six shutout innings, matching those innings with six strikeouts as well, keeping up his bid for a spot in the postseason rotation. Among those strikeouts was this curveball down causing Evan Longoria to swing over top and have no chance of making contact.
Zack Britton’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/dimkeyirishterrier
Zack Britton did a great job on Friday preserving the one-run game, allowing the Yankees to come back in the 9th inning to tie the game. He pitched a scoreless 8th inning to keep the game within a run picking up two strikeouts, including this slider to Michael Chavis sending him down looking.
Todd Frazier’s Knuckleball
https://gfycat.com/deficientannualcobra
Position players pitching give us plenty of enjoyment and this pitch by Todd Frazier was the epitome of that. Here we see him break out a 55 mile per hour knuckleball to catch Adam Duvall looking. Just watch and enjoy. (H/T to PL+ member Daryl).