Every morning we review the nastiest pitches from the previous day’s games in glorious HD GIFs. Don’t forget to vote for your favorite pitch and and check back this weekend to see if it will be in contention for the GIF of the Second Half. Did we miss your favorite pitch? Send us a tweet next time @ThePitcherList and we’ll GIF it up + give you a shoutout here in the article.
Congrats to Aaron Sanchez’s Changeup for winning Nastiest Pitching GIF of the Week! Sanchez gets a ton of movement on his pitches and this Changeup was no exception.
Blake Snell’s Curveball – Snell has found his groove in the big leagues and had one of his best starts in his short career against the Yankees over the weekend, fanning nine batters in just 5.1 innings. This hook to Brian McCann is similar to the one from his MLB debut and just as pretty.
Marco Estrada’s Changeup – It’s as textbook as they come as Estrada got Jonathan Schoop out on his front foot and whiffing through this perfect Circle Changeup. This pitch has been the secret to Estrada’s success thus far in 2016. (Thanks to Redditor Flerpinator for the tip!)
Josh Tomlin’s Curveball – Tomlin has been racking up the strikeouts lately, earning at least 7 Ks for the second straight game. This hook in particular caught our eye, featuring excellent depth as it dropped under Jake Smolinski’s bat.
Steve Cishek’s Slider – Cishek has had a solid revival in the Mariners pen, collecting 25 saves on the season. His most recent came on this fantastic slide piece to Addison Russell that sealed the Seattle win.
Tyler Skaggs‘ Curveball – Skaggs has looked great in his first two starts of 2016 for the Angels, commanding his Fastball effectively and showing off a fantastic hook. He earned eight strikeouts against the Red Sox on Sunday, most of which came from his big Curveball, like this one that spun Xander Bogaerts in the box.
David Phelps‘ Cutter – Phelps has been a stud inside the Miami pen and a underappreciated reason for their playoff hopes this season. His favorite pitch is this Cutter that breaks back over the plate to fool batters frequently, like Matt Holliday over the weekend. (Thanks to Redditor cubital42 for the tip!)
Reynaldo Lopez’s Curveball – It wasn’t the rebound we were hoping for from Lopez, though he was sitting pretty after three frames against the Giants. His Curveball is legit, and made Hunter Pence back off the plate on this sweet 0-1 bender. (Thanks to Redditors gpgpg and efitz11 for the tips!)
Jason Grilli’s Slider – Grilli had some tense moments out of the pen this weekend for the Jays, including this at-bat in the 10th where he silenced Jonathan Schoop with a nasty Slider that broke away from the slugger’s bat. (Thanks to @1LoganAdams1 for the tip!)
GIF Of The Weekend
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below and the winner will be featured in the GIF of the Second Half contest.
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