Every Monday we review the nastiest pitches from the previous weekends’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. 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 Adam Ottavino’s Slider for winning Nastiest Pitching GIF of the Week! A ridiculous slider from a pitcher I’m sure we’ll be featuring plenty over the course of the season.
Jameson Taillon’s Curveball – If you’ve been keeping tabs on the Pitcher List you’ve seen Taillon gradually move into the elite level in the early going. Here he uses his best pitch, the Curveball, to get Michael Pineda to flinch before the ball falls in for a called strike. (Thanks to @pgpgh5 for the tip!).
Jayson Aquino’s Changeup – Aquino uses a lefty’s best weapon against a right handed batter, the Changeup, to make Hanley Ramirez lose his helmet. Ramirez’s dreadlocks may have helped the helmet come off, but the beautiful Changeup did its part as well.
Eduardo Rodriguez’s Slider – Rodrgiguez has been up and down to start the season, but whether he’s giving up runs or not he always gets his Ks. Here he spots his slider perfectly to catch Mark Trumbo looking.(Thanks to @aaGalaxy and Redditor BarneyStinsbro for the tips!).
Dan Straily’s Changeup – Straily has had a fine career as a back of the rotation starter, and his career 7.68 K/9 is good, but far from elite. Straily had the game of his life Saturday striking out 14 batters and walking none. Here he uses a diving Changeup to retire Yangervis Solarte.
Corey Kluber’s Slider – Kluber vs. Jose Abreu is a matchup of great players who show little emotion and we’ve seen them go toe-to-toe plenty over the years. Here Kluber wins the battle with a darting Slider that Abreu swings over the top of. (Thanks to Redditor No32 for the tip!)
Corey Kluber’s Fastball – We had to double up on Kluber when we saw the movement he got on his heater at 93mph in the ninth inning of his complete game shutout on Friday night. The ball starts off the plate inside and rides all the way to the outside corner. Ridiculous.
Aroldis Chapman’s Changeup – We’ve seen Chapman make fools of batters with his heater and Slider, but now he’s starting get a feel for his Changeup, which is totally unnecessary but is incredible fun to watch. Check out Aroldis whiffing Josh Harrison with the pitch for the second out of the ninth inning as it fades down-and-away in a hurry.
Mike Foltynewicz’s Slider – Folty has shown the Fastball necessary to get big league hitters out, but his secondary stuff has lagged and many thought he might end up in the bullpen. If he can get his Slider biting like it did on Sunday he should be in a rotation for a long time. He even got one of his 9 Ks with a decent Changeup. Here he uses a wipeout Slider to get Odubel Herrera for the second time this game.
GIF Of The Night
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below and the winner will be featured in the GIF of the Week Contest.
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100+ MPH fastball with an 88 MPH changeup is simply unfair