This has to be the right answer.
Home plate is 17 inches wide for context.
Here’s the stat from MLB.com:
“Pitches that break 17+ inches horizontally most often in 2023:”
1. Devin Williams’ change up: 99.2%
So you might say, cool it’s breaking sideways, lots of pitchers do that, it doesn’t mean its the nastiest. It has 4 inches more vertical movement than average too. People know its coming and just can’t hit it.
[Airbender](https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1658664042779537408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1658664042779537408%7Ctwgr%5Ed50953b0d10b1881d6f5e884e5ed24da4b851eff%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mlb.com%2Fnews%2Fbrewers-devin-williams-airbender-pitch-movement)
https://amp.foxsports.com/stories/mlb/pitching-ninja-filthiest-relievers-felix-bautista-downright-dominance
2023 Felix Bautista was one of the nastiest pitchers this century.
The overlay is amazingly informative. His body moves almost identically but ball movement at the end shows that he lands slightly differently. I'd love to see Devin Williams change up overlayed with his most thrown pitch.
While yes his follow through was slightly different, his mechanics up to the "break point" where the splitter started to drop out compared to his fastball were identical.
I don't see anything in his delivery that a batter could use to pick up on which pitch is coming. As a batter, if you're waiting to check his follow through then you already missed the pitch either way.
What happened to him? I feel like he disappeared. Granted I have done no research and this is my first attempt at finding out. I'm very comfortable under my rock.
2015 and 2016 Zack Britton is one of the most dominant pitchers I’ve ever seen. Dude was unhittable. Still can’t believe Buck went to Ubaldo over him in Toronto…
Saw him throw a 102mph cutter on the inside edge of the plate, just under Rutschman’s elbow. Said out loud “what do you even do with that?” 3 pitches later Rutschman made contact and grounded out on a 101mph cutter like 2in closer to center center. Just making contact on those pitches seemed impossible to me, MLB batting is some wild stuff.
They have a similar movement path (generally glove side with a little drop to it) but sliders move more vertically and are slower. Cutters have late breaking movement.
Both get their movement from gyro spin on the ball. If you have a ball in front of you and it is end over end, straight forward, it’s 100% spin efficiency. Gyro spin is where it spins circular around the ball and can go down to 0% spin efficiency. Sliders are generally below 50% efficiency while still being high in velocity. Cutters are between 30-70% with even higher velocity. Curveballs are 50-75% efficient with low velocity and sweepers are low velocity with low efficiency (below 35%).
There’s a whole lot more to get into with finger placement and movement from seam-shifted wake, but I’m worried that I’ve already gone too in depth with it.
At the end of the day, pitches are pitches. You throw what you’re capable of throwing and how to get to where you need. Sometimes you need more movement to get a guy out, or you know he can pick up a gyro slider that moves more vertically so you try to throw a sweeper to get more horizontal movement. Sometimes it’s velocity, so you throw it harder to get it by him with late break.
Conceptually, kinda of.
A fast ball in any form is gonna be 2 fingers on the ball, behind it, and letting movement come from the final push of your fingers and seam shifted wake. A changeup is thrown the same way as the fastball, but instead of your first two fingers, it’s usually your middle 2 fingers or your first 3 fingers to add more friction. Helps lower the speed and increase break.
The most common combo, and the reason I assume you feel them to be similar, is the 2-seamer with both vertical and horizontal movement (sinker) and a circle change. The spin efficiency is still roughly the same for both.
Neither of them go for gyro spin, but they both follow the same pitch tunnel and break the same way, but at different times. The intention with that combo is to get you used to one speed and drastically lower it so you think it’s another fastball, until you miss because you swung early.
Another way to get outs is by doing the opposite. Same speed, different break direction. That’s usually why guys whiff super hard and look like they’re swinging at something dumb in the opponent batters box. The best example I have is Sergio Romo. For years, his approach was the same with every hitter. As a right handed pitcher, he wanted to have the ball move away from hitters. Against righties, he threw a heavy diet of sliders (sweepers) across the plate and in the left hand batters box. Against lefties he threw his sinker/changeup more often, staying out away from the left side and over the right handed batters box. Famously, he struck out Miguel Cabrera to end the 2012 World Series by throwing him several sliders in a row, getting to a 2-2 count, and then throwing a soft ass 2-seamer right down the middle of the plate that froze Miggy entirely.
Magnificent explanation. I just watched that ab you described and wow! Thanks again for being so patient, I like the fans of this sport and I'm enjoying learning it.
That’s okay, I’m happy to be patient and explain baseball to those who are willing to listen. Cheers bud, happy to have you enjoying the game with us 😊
Each pitch speed is competing with my old hometown's high temperatures this summer(my mom just sent me a screenshot of the weeks forecast, one day will go as high as 123'f this Saturday)
One pitch. You know what's coming. You know where it's coming. You know the velocity. You just watched your teammate get THEIR bat sheared off around the Louisville Slugger logo *on the same pitch.*
And you still can barely touch it.
What’s crazy to me, and I could be wrong but it’s the way I understand it, is it wasn’t an “unhittable” pitch on paper. Sat around 93 with ~2.5” of horizontal break. Not really groundbreaking then, especially not now. But it was the fact that it looked just like his fastball the entire time and the break was so late. Hitters just couldn’t break their programming and swung like it was just another fastball.
The way Big Papi explained it (he actually hit Mo well, so he probably saw what it was doing better than most other hitters) was that Mo was the only guy who could effectively elevate a cutter. For most guys throwing a cutter, if they left it up it was getting crushed but Mo could play with the whole zone effectively. I wonder if Mo got underneath it really well and gave it good backspin, so it was basically a rising 4-seamer with gloveside cut instead of armside run. That would explain his dominance; no one throws a pitch like that even today.
I’ll throw in Éric Gangé’s bugs bunny change up. 84 consecutive games without a blown save is insane.
I also remember Hank Blalock taking him deep in the all star game in the middle of his streak
The real answer here. Guy had an absolutely dominate streak throwing the most difficult pitch to control in the big leagues. The man successfully tamed the wind, put some respect on his name!
Well he's 12th all time in K/9, that's pretty good. 1000+ IP
It's crazy how many modern pitchers are on this list.
[https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/strikeouts\_per\_nine\_career.shtml](https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/strikeouts_per_nine_career.shtml)
It isn't crazy when you look how hitters approach at bats these days. Striking out 100 times in a season used to be a bad thing. Now they don't care, and we see it nonstop.
Real confused why you’re being downvoted, the meta now is absolutely trade strikeouts for power. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it for sure results in more Ks.
I know he had a lot of K's in 22, and in 21 he got kibda overshadowed by Wheeler. 2020 i think he was up there too.
Believe me, i don't get it either. I know how nasty Nola is.
Corey Kluber’s wipeout slurve. If there were two strikes on a right-handed batter, you knew it was coming, and you knew the batter was going to swing and then turn around and head back to the dugout.
This is my guess. A couple years ago I’ll put this tunnel against anything, shoot maybe still. The combination of speed/break is just better than just about anhthinf. anything else. Jhoan Duran’s Splitter sinker thing might be the one if I have to pick only one. Clase’s cutter though too! Shew.
This is a tough thread.
deGrom's slider was even nastier than his fb
The combo was unhittable
Recall [Pitching Ninja's famous overlay of the two](https://twitter.com/i/status/1648116976949010432)
Freddy Freeman said the only way to hit deGrom was to guess fastball & hope he left it out over the plate
That overlay pitchingninja had of his 100mph fastball hitting the top edge of the zone and his mid 80s curveball hitting the bottom edge of the zone and the 2 pitches being on the exact same path for the 1st 30 feet... insanity
Edit: [found the clip](https://x.com/PitchingNinja/status/1800679710248346059?t=M076Clx7Ff54CD9BNELbmg&s=19)
I was fortunate enough to catch his second start while I was in Chicago.
The Cubbies aren't great this year, but it was terrifying how easily he mowed through the order. He threw at least two pitches at 100+ mph per at bat. Worse still, he was throwing those pitches for called strikes.
I've been wrong about pitchers before, but I think Skenes is the real deal.
For the record, Kershaw’s slider is what turned him from a very good pitcher, into one of the greatest pitchers of all-time. Here is a pitching ninja overlay with his fastball, showing you why it’s so difficult to hit:
https://x.com/PitchingNinja/status/1642343384835555332
It was 95-96 for a couple months in his last year with the Mets, and it was dead flat and straight until about three feet in front of the plate. And then it hit the left side batters box when it was at the back of the plate.
Not only that, it came out of the exact same armslot and release point as his 102 mph fastball.
It's the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. EVERYTHING looked like a fastball, until it didn't.
Honestly, Skenes’ fastball might be there already. The vertical movement along with being 100+ is absolutely disgusting. Idk how you even attempt to put a good swing on that pitch
The only answer is Matt Brash’s slider.
https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2023/03/31/mariners-matt-brash-struck-out-jose-ramirez-nastiest-pitch-opening-day
I love watching Blake Treinen pitch.
He has a 97 sinker and a bugs bunny type slider and everything he throws moves a ton, at high speed.
Another guy who has been on the IL many times , but his stuff is still amongst the best
Just ask the Cleveland Indians of 25 years ago. Pedro one hit them out of the bullpen throwing nothing but a fucking change up. He had a little bit of a violent sidearm delivery and then that pitch would just roll off the table when it got to the plate.
People are going to think I’m crazy, but Lucas Sims, when he’s on, is easily the nastiest pitcher. Everything he throws moves like a wiffleball and his slider looks like it’s moving in three different directions. But Sims almost never throws with consistency.
Surprised it's not mentioned yet, but Matt Brash has one of the nastiest sliders ever. Really missing him as a reliever this year...
[https://www.youtube.com/shorts/B4Xl\_tjNeOw](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/B4Xl_tjNeOw)
When Nola dots up a front door 2-Seamer on a lefty its pretty filthy.
For Example:
[https://www.instagram.com/pitchingninja/reel/C7p5ArXOHty/](https://www.instagram.com/pitchingninja/reel/C7p5ArXOHty/)
Devin Williams change up
Can’t wait to have that guy back. He was in the dugout the other day, so things are looking up.
This has to be the right answer. Home plate is 17 inches wide for context. Here’s the stat from MLB.com: “Pitches that break 17+ inches horizontally most often in 2023:” 1. Devin Williams’ change up: 99.2% So you might say, cool it’s breaking sideways, lots of pitchers do that, it doesn’t mean its the nastiest. It has 4 inches more vertical movement than average too. People know its coming and just can’t hit it. [Airbender](https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1658664042779537408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1658664042779537408%7Ctwgr%5Ed50953b0d10b1881d6f5e884e5ed24da4b851eff%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mlb.com%2Fnews%2Fbrewers-devin-williams-airbender-pitch-movement)
How tf do people hit 300 anymore
The air-bender!
https://amp.foxsports.com/stories/mlb/pitching-ninja-filthiest-relievers-felix-bautista-downright-dominance 2023 Felix Bautista was one of the nastiest pitchers this century.
The overlay is ridiculous. There is absolutely nothing the hitter can do.
The overlay is amazingly informative. His body moves almost identically but ball movement at the end shows that he lands slightly differently. I'd love to see Devin Williams change up overlayed with his most thrown pitch.
While yes his follow through was slightly different, his mechanics up to the "break point" where the splitter started to drop out compared to his fastball were identical. I don't see anything in his delivery that a batter could use to pick up on which pitch is coming. As a batter, if you're waiting to check his follow through then you already missed the pitch either way.
What happened to him? I feel like he disappeared. Granted I have done no research and this is my first attempt at finding out. I'm very comfortable under my rock.
Tommy John’s 🥲
Aw damn, makes sense. Thanks for the info
Zack Britton sinker. There's no way a 98 mph pitch should move that much.
2015 and 2016 Zack Britton is one of the most dominant pitchers I’ve ever seen. Dude was unhittable. Still can’t believe Buck went to Ubaldo over him in Toronto…
crazy how we forget about him. dude was on another level
He shoulda just put Mounty in the batting order smh
Couldn’t agree with you more. Actually came here to say this lol. A ball should never have that much movement and still be 98, ya nailed it.
Clase’s cutter
everyone knows its coming and its unhittable
Saw him throw a 102mph cutter on the inside edge of the plate, just under Rutschman’s elbow. Said out loud “what do you even do with that?” 3 pitches later Rutschman made contact and grounded out on a 101mph cutter like 2in closer to center center. Just making contact on those pitches seemed impossible to me, MLB batting is some wild stuff.
Is it a cutter or Slider, because I read somewhere that the Cutter is a variation of a slider.
They have a similar movement path (generally glove side with a little drop to it) but sliders move more vertically and are slower. Cutters have late breaking movement. Both get their movement from gyro spin on the ball. If you have a ball in front of you and it is end over end, straight forward, it’s 100% spin efficiency. Gyro spin is where it spins circular around the ball and can go down to 0% spin efficiency. Sliders are generally below 50% efficiency while still being high in velocity. Cutters are between 30-70% with even higher velocity. Curveballs are 50-75% efficient with low velocity and sweepers are low velocity with low efficiency (below 35%). There’s a whole lot more to get into with finger placement and movement from seam-shifted wake, but I’m worried that I’ve already gone too in depth with it. At the end of the day, pitches are pitches. You throw what you’re capable of throwing and how to get to where you need. Sometimes you need more movement to get a guy out, or you know he can pick up a gyro slider that moves more vertically so you try to throw a sweeper to get more horizontal movement. Sometimes it’s velocity, so you throw it harder to get it by him with late break.
Thanks for this post, it really helped visualise the differences
Thank You for the explanation.
Also do sinkers and change ups work on the same theory?
Conceptually, kinda of. A fast ball in any form is gonna be 2 fingers on the ball, behind it, and letting movement come from the final push of your fingers and seam shifted wake. A changeup is thrown the same way as the fastball, but instead of your first two fingers, it’s usually your middle 2 fingers or your first 3 fingers to add more friction. Helps lower the speed and increase break. The most common combo, and the reason I assume you feel them to be similar, is the 2-seamer with both vertical and horizontal movement (sinker) and a circle change. The spin efficiency is still roughly the same for both. Neither of them go for gyro spin, but they both follow the same pitch tunnel and break the same way, but at different times. The intention with that combo is to get you used to one speed and drastically lower it so you think it’s another fastball, until you miss because you swung early. Another way to get outs is by doing the opposite. Same speed, different break direction. That’s usually why guys whiff super hard and look like they’re swinging at something dumb in the opponent batters box. The best example I have is Sergio Romo. For years, his approach was the same with every hitter. As a right handed pitcher, he wanted to have the ball move away from hitters. Against righties, he threw a heavy diet of sliders (sweepers) across the plate and in the left hand batters box. Against lefties he threw his sinker/changeup more often, staying out away from the left side and over the right handed batters box. Famously, he struck out Miguel Cabrera to end the 2012 World Series by throwing him several sliders in a row, getting to a 2-2 count, and then throwing a soft ass 2-seamer right down the middle of the plate that froze Miggy entirely.
Magnificent explanation. I just watched that ab you described and wow! Thanks again for being so patient, I like the fans of this sport and I'm enjoying learning it.
That’s okay, I’m happy to be patient and explain baseball to those who are willing to listen. Cheers bud, happy to have you enjoying the game with us 😊
It’s a Slutter.
The cutter is a fastball variation with slider attributes
Cutter.
This is the answer
Everything mason miller throws
It will be neat to see if they get him back to starting, but a shame that when/if they do I'll have to travel to see it.
He’s too dirty. Him throwing the absolute gas he is throwing right now wouldn’t be sustainable over 4-5 innings
Each pitch speed is competing with my old hometown's high temperatures this summer(my mom just sent me a screenshot of the weeks forecast, one day will go as high as 123'f this Saturday)
Except that low and in slider he threw to Croney.
Waldron and the world famous Knuckleball…Go Padres
Agreed. First name that I thought of.
And bonus having Higgy be able to handle that wild little thing
Kodai Sengas 👻
Mo’s Cutter
One pitch. You know what's coming. You know where it's coming. You know the velocity. You just watched your teammate get THEIR bat sheared off around the Louisville Slugger logo *on the same pitch.* And you still can barely touch it.
He threw it 89% of the time and still had a postseason ERA of 0.70. Wild
More people have walked on the moon than scored on Mo in the post season. He was absolutely dominant.
this is the Mo stat i pull out at parties im not that fun at parties
What’s crazy to me, and I could be wrong but it’s the way I understand it, is it wasn’t an “unhittable” pitch on paper. Sat around 93 with ~2.5” of horizontal break. Not really groundbreaking then, especially not now. But it was the fact that it looked just like his fastball the entire time and the break was so late. Hitters just couldn’t break their programming and swung like it was just another fastball.
The way Big Papi explained it (he actually hit Mo well, so he probably saw what it was doing better than most other hitters) was that Mo was the only guy who could effectively elevate a cutter. For most guys throwing a cutter, if they left it up it was getting crushed but Mo could play with the whole zone effectively. I wonder if Mo got underneath it really well and gave it good backspin, so it was basically a rising 4-seamer with gloveside cut instead of armside run. That would explain his dominance; no one throws a pitch like that even today.
Great pitcher in the history of baseball. Definitely the most humble! 100% of HOF votes!
I’ll throw in Éric Gangé’s bugs bunny change up. 84 consecutive games without a blown save is insane. I also remember Hank Blalock taking him deep in the all star game in the middle of his streak
Hank Blalock? Fuck I’m old
Same. His dad was my summer coach
Mariano Rivera's Cutter, everyone in the stadium knew it was coming every time and still guys swing out of their shoes.
Paul Skenes splinker Matt Waldron knuckleball
Chris Sales slider is still always gonna be a beautiful and disgusting pitch
love how sale is at the bottom. just a tory hunter about it.
RA Dickey's knuckleball
The real answer here. Guy had an absolutely dominate streak throwing the most difficult pitch to control in the big leagues. The man successfully tamed the wind, put some respect on his name!
It was so good. Then I drafted him in fantasy and happened to be the year he completely fell off. Think i broke him lol
Aaron Nola's knuckle curve
For a guy that isn't really known as a strikeout pitcher, that's one of the filthiest things I've seen too.
Nola is one of 12 pitchers in MLB history with more Ks than innings pitched.
Well he's 12th all time in K/9, that's pretty good. 1000+ IP It's crazy how many modern pitchers are on this list. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/strikeouts\_per\_nine\_career.shtml](https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/strikeouts_per_nine_career.shtml)
It isn't crazy when you look how hitters approach at bats these days. Striking out 100 times in a season used to be a bad thing. Now they don't care, and we see it nonstop.
Real confused why you’re being downvoted, the meta now is absolutely trade strikeouts for power. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it for sure results in more Ks.
And a much more boring overall sport
I know he had a lot of K's in 22, and in 21 he got kibda overshadowed by Wheeler. 2020 i think he was up there too. Believe me, i don't get it either. I know how nasty Nola is.
Hunter Greene's Barfball
Sickening
Corey Kluber’s wipeout slurve. If there were two strikes on a right-handed batter, you knew it was coming, and you knew the batter was going to swing and then turn around and head back to the dugout.
Andrew Miller's backdoor slider
Clase cutter
Blake Treinen Sinker/Slider combo. Disgusting.
This is my guess. A couple years ago I’ll put this tunnel against anything, shoot maybe still. The combination of speed/break is just better than just about anhthinf. anything else. Jhoan Duran’s Splitter sinker thing might be the one if I have to pick only one. Clase’s cutter though too! Shew. This is a tough thread.
deGrom's slider was even nastier than his fb The combo was unhittable Recall [Pitching Ninja's famous overlay of the two](https://twitter.com/i/status/1648116976949010432) Freddy Freeman said the only way to hit deGrom was to guess fastball & hope he left it out over the plate
No one in here watched Paul skenes pitch I guess lol
That overlay pitchingninja had of his 100mph fastball hitting the top edge of the zone and his mid 80s curveball hitting the bottom edge of the zone and the 2 pitches being on the exact same path for the 1st 30 feet... insanity Edit: [found the clip](https://x.com/PitchingNinja/status/1800679710248346059?t=M076Clx7Ff54CD9BNELbmg&s=19)
He’s unreal. Watching in person doesn’t do it justice. I’ve been to every home start he’s made and it’s a Steeler like environment at the games
Great pitcher And discoverer of the Skenes Gland!
You would be correct, why would I want to watch a pirates game?
Oh shit. Man down! Coming from a Royals fan too.
Idk I wouldn’t want to either
Yeah man, that guy is awesome.
I was fortunate enough to catch his second start while I was in Chicago. The Cubbies aren't great this year, but it was terrifying how easily he mowed through the order. He threw at least two pitches at 100+ mph per at bat. Worse still, he was throwing those pitches for called strikes. I've been wrong about pitchers before, but I think Skenes is the real deal.
Jhoan Duran’s splitter
Matt Brash's slider. I wish he was healthy.
Greinke. Easy. This is the nastiest pitch ever thrown https://youtu.be/cMI8QFJNutU?si=IrsKJtV2eph2us4O
For the record, Kershaw’s slider is what turned him from a very good pitcher, into one of the greatest pitchers of all-time. Here is a pitching ninja overlay with his fastball, showing you why it’s so difficult to hit: https://x.com/PitchingNinja/status/1642343384835555332
Paul Skenes’ splinker pitch that he just developed this past year is nearly unhittable.
Isn’t that the pitch he gives up the most hits on?
I think it’s his slider that people are hitting a lot
Nah his opponent avg on the splinker is under .067 I think
Jacob deGrom’s slider.
I think you mean ‘unhittable slider’. His deal with the devil was short but damn was it sweet.
Not only was it 93-95 with crazy movement, but he could throw it to the same spot every single time. Basically a guaranteed swing and miss.
It was 95-96 for a couple months in his last year with the Mets, and it was dead flat and straight until about three feet in front of the plate. And then it hit the left side batters box when it was at the back of the plate. Not only that, it came out of the exact same armslot and release point as his 102 mph fastball. It's the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. EVERYTHING looked like a fastball, until it didn't.
Chris sale slider, to a lefty that’s got to look like witchcraft
When Sale is healthy, his slider is pure magic
Honestly, Skenes’ fastball might be there already. The vertical movement along with being 100+ is absolutely disgusting. Idk how you even attempt to put a good swing on that pitch
His splinker definitely is
Have you seen the cards minor leaguer throw that screwball?
Before hanging that one slider to Pujols, Brad Lidge showed maybe the most dominant fastball-slider combo ever chucked.
Also came to see if Lidges slider would be on this list 👍
Made 40k people silent. That moonshot was nightmare fuel until the Alvarez game six shot.
baseball doesn’t exist has a great video on this. he actually came back and won a world series after that i think
The only answer is Matt Brash’s slider. https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2023/03/31/mariners-matt-brash-struck-out-jose-ramirez-nastiest-pitch-opening-day
“The only answer”? Come on, man. That was a nasty pitch though.
I am cautiously optimistic that he will come back from TJS the same pitcher.
Servais will still use him more than any reliever in MLB, and he’ll end up in the same MRI room, and surgery again.
Fernando Cruz cutter
Aroldis Chapman fastball? He can’t hit 105 anymore but damn he was unhittable in his prime
He hit 104 on back to back pitches against the Dodgers earlier this year.
Matt Brash slider
Kirby slider
Amongst those already mentioned, about 5 years ago before he just fell all the way off the table, Patrick Corbin's slider.
Trevor Richards' change-up
Tarik Skubal Fastball/change-up combo. How the hell has this not been mentioned? He has 112 strikeouts and a pretty deep bag..
Lincecum split
Sergio Romo's slider was so good, he could strike out MVP hitters without even throwing it. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjtoh8hlZEU
I love watching Blake Treinen pitch. He has a 97 sinker and a bugs bunny type slider and everything he throws moves a ton, at high speed. Another guy who has been on the IL many times , but his stuff is still amongst the best
Ben Sheets curveball.
Cease…anything he throws
Chaz Roe’s slider. I audibly said “holy shit” when I saw it the first time.
Ceases curveball is Narsty
DeGrom fastball is amazing, but his slider is the most unhittable pitch maybe of all time.
This year? Ranger Suarez sinker & change up. 🤌
The Sanchez change-up is nasty too.
What happened to that dude that used to post gifs of the nastiest pitches of the day? I miss that dude.
Pitching Ninja. He’s still doin it.
clases cutter with his slider being a close second bc he goes from 100mph to 89-92 and that’s just insane
I know he's injured now, but Matt brash's slider, nasty stuff
Has to be Christy Matthewson’s celebrated fadeaway. 🤪
Felix Hernandez change-up. Almost unhittable!
Dustin May's 2 seamer https://youtu.be/vM-jOcZggk0?si=c0GOOKpbth57rdap
Sergio Romo’s no-dot slider. That thing would break 2 feet, despite looking exactly like a fastball out of his hands.
Johan Duran’s Splitter
Skenes fastball
Jeremaiah estrada’s Chitter
Anyone who throws a knuckleball - so that dude on the Padres.
The Kershaw curve is a cheat code
Pedro’s changeup and Randy’s slider
Paul Skene's "Splinker"
ottavino’s slider
Sale's slider 2016 - 2019 was so so nasty.
Blake Treinen’s Sinker/Slider combo a couple years back
wiffle ball stuff
Watch Pitching Ninja and he will show you the nastiest pitches everyday
Chris Sales slider. When it was on holy shit the movement
Chris Sale
Devin Williams
Byan Woo’s fastball was putting up Cy Young numbers, until he kept getting injured
Just ask the Cleveland Indians of 25 years ago. Pedro one hit them out of the bullpen throwing nothing but a fucking change up. He had a little bit of a violent sidearm delivery and then that pitch would just roll off the table when it got to the plate.
Matt Waldron knuckleball
Chris Sanchez’ changeup is up there and getting better by the day
Waldron and his knuckleball ...freaking AWESOME
Waldron. Padres have an absolute gem in this kid. Other players talk a lot about how nasty he is…wow
Me, I can't believe they didn't cal me up with my 78 mph heater
Sasaki forkball
Dustin May 2 Seamer comes to mind. Chris Sale Slider comes to mind
Any of Matt Brash’s pitches… hope he comes back, rip to his elbow 🙏
Does anyone else get excired butterflies reading through this thread? No? Okay. #ilovebaseball
What do you mean no. Imagining all these pitches and seeing them doesn’t feel real. #ialsolovebaseball
Randy Johnson Slider
The gyroball obviously
Look up Matt Brash striking out Jose Ramirez. That slider though.
Klaus Nottingers fastball left without tipping
Not very recent but Niekros knuckleball
Zach Britton's sinker in 2016. 99mph, crazy movement and basically unhittable. In 67 innings he gave up a total of 4 runs for a season ERA of 0.54.
Ben Joyce splinker
Watched Mason Miller strike out two batters on a slider two feet low and inside, this after a 103 mph fastball. Nasty.
It’s crazy how many different names are on here. Pitchers be good.
I remember the playoffs a few years ago where Logan Webb just kept throwing his changeup, and no one could hit it.
Paul Skenes threw a 95 mph slider the other day
Blake Treinen slider
People are going to think I’m crazy, but Lucas Sims, when he’s on, is easily the nastiest pitcher. Everything he throws moves like a wiffleball and his slider looks like it’s moving in three different directions. But Sims almost never throws with consistency.
Waldron
Rich Hill's curveball. When that thing was on, it was absolutely lethal
Surprised it's not mentioned yet, but Matt Brash has one of the nastiest sliders ever. Really missing him as a reliever this year... [https://www.youtube.com/shorts/B4Xl\_tjNeOw](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/B4Xl_tjNeOw)
Skenes’ splinker is absolutely filthy
Whatever comes out of Matt Brash’s hand
Knuckleball Waldron is on his way
Was kodai senga till he went back to japan
Matt Brashs Slider
Trevor Richards changeup
Verlander's yellow hammer
Matt Brash and his slider. Honestly ridiculous how sharp that thing is. I’ll also throw in Mason Miller’s slider. Hard to hit off his 100+mph fastball
When Nola dots up a front door 2-Seamer on a lefty its pretty filthy. For Example: [https://www.instagram.com/pitchingninja/reel/C7p5ArXOHty/](https://www.instagram.com/pitchingninja/reel/C7p5ArXOHty/)
when blake treinen was really on his game, he looked like the most talented pitcher on earth
Lots of good answers but no one saying Corbin Burnes cutter… in it’s peak definetly one of the most valuable pitches in baseball
That Oliver Drake screwball or whatever the hell that physics defying pitch was was pretty nasty
Not exactly recent, but for me, Randy Johnson's slider and Mariano Rivera's cutter will always be at the top of my mind.
I’m really impressed with Devon Williams change up
Mario Riveras cut fastball … only pitch he threw
👻fork
Chris sales slider
Pedro’s change-up, Zito/Kershaw’s curve, Randy’s slider, Mo’s cutter, Wakefield’s knuckleball, Derek Lowe’s sinker, Maddux’ 2-seamer and Nolan Ryan’s fastball
It was 20 years ago so I don't know if it would count as recent, but Francisco Rodriguez's slider was unhittable for about 5 years.
Biased but Blake Snell's Changeup is filth