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 @ThePitcherList and we’ll GIF it up + give you a shoutout here in the article.
Jameson Taillon’s Curveball – It was amazing seeing Taillon back on the hill in such a short time from having testicular cancer and he was in prime form against the Rockies. Our favorite pitch was this signature Curveball that fell a ton to get Trevor Story swinging.
Luis Perdomo’s Fastball – Perdomo cruised to a victory over the Reds featuring his Fastball that comes with a ton of horizontal bend. He froze Billy Hamilton with the pitch in the fifth inning, which started at the speedster’s hip before zooming back over the plate for strike three.
Dellin Betances‘ Curveball – The Angels broadcast was calling this a Slider, but it’s a proper Knuckle-Curveball as Betances struck out the side for an easy save. While expecting triple digit heat, we can under Danny Espinosa flinching out of the way on this incredibly breaking ball. (Thanks to Redditors ledbetterus and jt5099 for the tip!)
Stephen Strasburg’s Changeup – Strasburg may have allowed 4 ER against the Braves, but he also fanned 10 along the way. There were plenty of pitches to choose from, but we’re still just so enamored by the amount of tumbling action he gets on his Changeup. Just watch it fall from the middle of the plate to the dirt against Brandon Phillips here in the fifth frame.
Yu Darvish’s Slider – While he only earned four strikeouts, he was able to silence the hot hitting Astros in a battle of Texas ballclubs. The amount of lateral bend he got on this slide piece granted it an easy spot on today’s roundup.
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.
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