Major League Baseball

Pitching Ninja's Five Filthiest Pitches of Week: Shohei Ohtani tops list

Updated Jul. 11, 2022 2:17 p.m. ET

By Rob Friedman, aka "Pitching Ninja"
FOX Sports MLB Analyst

There have been plenty of pitching fireworks in early July. But only the best pitches make my rankings.

These pitchers might not all be All-Stars, but they threw the five filthiest pitches of the week.

Let's get to the list.

1. Shohei Ohtani's 100 mph fastball, 92 mph splitter and 86 mph slider

This overlay sums up what makes Ohtani so tough to hit and why he's one of the best pitchers in the American League. A hitter must determine which pitch is coming and has fractions of a second to make that decision because Ohtani’s fastball runs from the upper 90s to over 100 mph.

The hitter also has to deal with pitches moving in a variety of directions at a variety of speeds. Ohtani’s slider in this overlay broke 18 inches; you can see it start inside of both the fastball and splitter and end up way outside of them. The splitter looks like his fastball but then dives to the dirt. The fastball, at 100 mph, blows by the hitter.

You can see why Ohtani hasn’t allowed an earned run in his past 28.2 innings. This is sorcery!

Shohei’s slider has become a big weapon for him this year. He has a 44.6% whiff rate on the pitch, and opponents are hitting only .169 against it. This wild slider from Ohtani broke 20 inches!

2. Sandy Alcántara’s unhittable 101 mph sinker

Marlins ace Alcántara has arguably been the best pitcher in baseball this season and is currently the favorite for the NL Cy Young Award. His sinker is a big reason for that. This sinker ran 20 inches arm side at 101 mph. A pitch thrown 101 mph with that much movement is borderline unfair.

3. Alek Manoah's middle-middle two-seam fastball

Manoah has been lights-out for the Blue Jays this season, earning a spot in the All-Star Game.

This 95 mph two-seamer highlights Manoah’s nastiness. Seattle's Carlos Santana thinks he’s going to get hit with this pitch and ducks out of the way, but the two-seamer ends up virtually in the middle of the strike zone! That arm side movement is incredible.

4. Michael King’s cartoon slider

The Yankees' right-hander has been one of the most valuable relief pitchers in baseball this season. He gets absurd movement on his pitches, and here’s a great example of that movement. This breaking ball broke 22 inches and doesn’t look real!

King can aim this pitch at a hitter’s hip (freezing the hitter) and still have it break back to the strike zone. You can see why batters are hitting only .116 against his slider, with a 43% whiff rate.

5. Brusdar Graterol’s "easy" 100 mph two-seamer

Graterol looks like he throws with as much effort as you’re putting in reading this sentence. His easy gas is mind-blowing to fans and players alike.

Here’s an "easy" 100 mph two-seamer that starts in the opposite batter’s box and runs back 17 inches, all the way back to the plate. It's an absurd pitch.

Honorable mention

Carlos Rodón’s 99 mph fastball on his 112th pitch

Rodón has been dominant this season and has become a workhorse — amazingly, he typically throws harder as the game goes on.

On Saturday against the Padres, Rodón threw a complete game, recorded 12 strikeouts and threw 99 mph on his 112th and final pitch, the fastest any Giants starter has ever thrown in the ninth inning. Not only that, but Rodón had an electric K strut after the final strikeout.

Fire. Me. Up!

Jordan Hicks' 103.8 mph two-seamer (foul)

Next pitch: Hicks' 103 mph two-seamer (swing and miss)

This week, Hicks threw the fastest pitch in Major League Baseball this season at 103.8 mph. In fact, it was the fastest pitch in MLB since May 2019, when Hicks threw 104.3 mph. Amazingly, the pitch was fouled off, so Hicks took a little off of his next pitch — "only" 103 mph — to get the strikeout.

What an incredible arm!

Rob Friedman is a pitching analyst on Twitter and YouTube, and his work has been featured on many Major League Baseball broadcasts.