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 check back this weekend to see if it will be in contention for the GIF of the First Half Contest. Did we miss your favorite pitch? Send us a tweet next time @PitcherList and we’ll GIF it up + give you a shoutout here in the article.
[gfycat data_id=”AngryHardtofindBrontosaurus”]
Chaz Roe’s Slider – The 31-year-old is getting a ridiculous 12.5 inches of horizontal break on this pitch so far, which is up from 2017’s 9.8 (the average righty sits at roughly 2.8 inches). That’s so awe-inspiring, even his catcher couldn’t track it—at least not not on this offering to Philadelphia’s Scott Kingery.
[gfycat data_id=”IdlePepperyCougar”]
Adam Morgan’s Slider – The bendy goodness in the Philly-Tampa clash wasn’t limited to Roe, as Morgan seemed determined to mirror his counterpart from the left side on this one to Kevin Kiermaier late in the Phillies’ 2-1 win. By comparison, Morgan’s put-away pitch is checking in with an impressive 10 inches of 2018 horizontal break.
[gfycat data_id=”PertinentImaginaryGoat”]
Jeurys Familia’s Splitter – He’s back in the closer role for the Mets and taking full advantage of it. Familia shut the door on the Brewers Friday night and showed off his filthy Splitter to Eric Thames with this 1-1 pitch diving from the heart of the plate to the dirt at 93mph. (Thanks to @TrainBrzezinski for the tip!)
[gfycat data_id=”ImpossibleFlippantEnglishsetter”]
Wade Davis‘ Slider – The best part about this game-ender to Washington’s Matt Wieters is Davis’ instinctive square-up and stare into his catcher, as if there was never any doubt he’d secure the 2-1 victory. The Nats catcher looked as though he knew he was in for a sleepless night as the ball dive-bombed toward his back foot.
[gfycat data_id=”GlossyDismalBetafish”]
Zack Greinke’s Changeup – Grienke’s four-seamer sat at 91 mph, and he picked up 14 whiffs overall to help him to seven strikeouts and just one walk against the Dodgers. Sure, two homers smeared his final line, but this changeup inside to L.A.’s Yasiel Puig was a thing of beauty.
[gfycat data_id=”WeirdRigidGallinule”]
Anibal Sanchez’s Splitter – The 34-year-old kept the Cubs off balance through six scoreless with everything from a high-60s changeup to this elusive splitter to Tommy LaStella.
[gfycat data_id=”ComfortableImpracticalDodobird”]
Tanner Roark’s Two-Seamer – Roark stung Rockies hitters with his two-seamer all night, throwing it for a strike 70.4% of the time on 27 offerings. Ian Desmond stood admiring its brilliance in the fifth inning to take a backward K here.
[gfycat data_id=”BiodegradableAmbitiousHamadryad”]
Chad Kuhl’s Sinker – MLB.com’s Mike Petriello tweeted that on a night where Kuhl’s former teammate, Gerrit Cole, tossed his third straight double-digit strikeout game with an updated pitch mix after his move to Houston, the Pittsburgh righty has to have taken notice of the whole “fewer fastballs, more breaking stuff” routine. It’s a smart idea, but if Kuhl keeps dealing out sinkers like this one to Miami’s J.B. Shuck, we won’t be mad.
GIF Of The Night
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below and the winner will be featured in the GIF of the First Half Contest.
[polldaddy poll=9981701]