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.
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Jeremy Jeffress‘ Two-Seamer – The Brewers reliever did Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman dirty with this 97 mph work of art—then got him swinging on a splitter two pitches later to help preserve Milwaukee’s one-run lead.
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Chris Sale’s Slider – The Red Sox ace garnered his usual share of whiffs (17 overall) and strikeouts (12) in six innings against the Royals, and he also left Emilio Bonifacio cringing with a 99 mph fastball on his 92nd pitch. Still, his bread-and-butter wipeout slider looked excellent on this first-inning offering to Mike Moustakas.
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Zack Godley’s Knuckle Curve – The Diamondbacks starter had his hook working against the Padres, as he scooped up 12 swinging strikes on the pitch (14 overall). Here, Freddy Galvis swung out of his shoes on this inside nastiness.
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Lance McCullers’ Knuckle Curve – McCullers didn’t have the usual movement on his two-seamer, but it almost didn’t matter as he generated 23 whiffs over seven innings against the White Sox—16 coming on his knuckle curve alone. Chicago’s Adam Engel was left with an off-balance trip to the dugout on this third-inning offering.
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Joe Biagini’s Two-Seamer – The Blue Jays reliever generated some impressive run on this fastball to get Giancarlo Stanton to whiff. The Yankees slugger struck out swinging with the bases loaded two pitches later.
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Carlos Carrasco’s Curveball – Carrasco picked up seven K’s in 5.1 innings in his first start back from the DL. He also had a 25.5% whiff rate on his hook (12 swings and misses), including this knee-dropper to Oakland’s Dustin Fowler.
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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