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 Second 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.
Congrats to Adam Ottavino’s Cutter for winning Nastiest Pitching GIF of the Week! Ottavino comes from behind to pass Aaron Nola’s Changeup. Ottavino’s closed position and crazy break makes for a beautiful GIF.
Michael Wacha’s Fastball – Wacha’s Fastball velocity has ticked up later in the year as he’s more removed from his varied injury history. With the added velocity Wacha has kept his pristine command, and Max Moroff couldn’t pull the trigger on a pitch right on the black at 97 MPH.
Stephen Strasburg’s Changeup – Strasburg is now up to 29 scoreless innings since coming off the DL, and looking like a formidable force to face in the playoffs. Strasburg’s Changeup was his primary strikeout pitch early in the game because the pitch takes a nosedive toward the dirt that Rhys Hoskins, or most any hitter, couldn’t handle.
Chasen Bradford’s Fastball – Mets fans don’t have much to cheer for these day so maybe Bradford’s Sinker can put a smile on their faces. This pitch has crazy run as it moves in on the hands of Phillip Ervin.
Chaz Roe’s Slider – Roe’s a pretty good ROOGY who uses a Fastball-Slider combo that is tough to pickup out of his hand. This Slider to Hanley Ramirez breaks all the way across the plate and out of the zone and Hanley Ramirez is left flummoxed.
Jacob deGrom’s Changeup – On a night when the somewhat inconsistent deGrom pitched great the Mets bullpen couldn’t finish off the Reds to get their ace a win. deGrom struck out 10 Reds hitters including Zack Cozart on this highly effective Changeup.
Jake Junis’ Slider – Junis is turning into a mainstay on PitcherList using two pitches that break in opposite directions, his Two-seam Fastball and his filthy Slider. His Slider breaks under the hands of Eduardo Escobar with extreme horizontal movement, and Escobar ends up more than a little off balance.
Fernando Abad’s Eephus –Last week I commented on A.J. Griffin’s Curveball and how it’s one of the slowest pitches in the majors that’s thrown on a regular basis. Well, Griffin’s Curveball is slow, but Abad’s Eephus is 10 MPH slower, and it’s hilarious to watch the pitch hang in the air before Adeiny Hechavarria still can’t wait long enough to make contact.
Jose Berrios’ Curveball –Berrios still isn’t pitching particularly well, but there’s a dirty Curveball every start that shows his potential. Alex Gordon just can’t hold up to the as the pitch breaks out of the zone sharply.
GIF Of The Night
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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