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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Noah Syndergaard’s Changeup – Thor didn’t have his whiffiest stuff Sunday with only five swings and misses induced against the Diamondbacks. Still, the Norse god toyed with Arizona’s Jake Lamb on this first-inning changeup as catcher Tomas Nido lost it on the transfer while trying to throw out a base stealer. The Mets starter struck out seven, walked one and gave up six hits over seven innings.
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Lance McCullers’ Two-Seamer – McCullers brought it in the Sunday-night showdown with Carlos Carrasco, striking out eight against two walks and one hit over seven innings. He had his stuff working early against Francisco Lindor, inducing a hop-back on this first-inning fastball. Can’t really blame the Cleveland shortstop, as that thing went for quite a ride.
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Jordan Hicks‘ Two-Seamer – St. Louis’ staff was showing off all sorts of nasty action Sunday, as rookie starter Jack Flaherty struck out 13. But Hicks was gassing stuff of a different sort, and even though the reliever seemed to have no idea where this fastball was going, we’d be remiss not to mention a heater that traveled 105 mph with deadly tail. Philadelphia’s Odubel Herrera can count himself lucky he doesn’t bat from the right side. Good. Lord.
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Carlos Carrasco’s Changeup – The 31-year-old punched out Houston’s Josh Reddick for one of his six strikeouts over 7.2 innings, pulling the string on this second-inning offering. Still, he gave up eight hits as Cleveland fell 3-1.
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Fernando Rodney’s Two-Seamer – Sure, no one’s exactly comfortable with Rodney holding down their fantasy team in saves, but his results have been there so far. He sports a sub-3.00 ERA and picked up his ninth save by striking out the side against Milwaukee, abusing Jonathan Villar with silly movement.
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Shohei Ohtani’s Splitter – Add Tampa to the list of teams that couldn’t handle Ohtani’s splitter, and this one to Mallex Smith was as good as any on a day he picked up nine strikeouts over 7.2 innings in a 5-2 win.
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Joe Biagini’s Curveball – The Blue Jays starter lasted only four innings against the A’s, but he dropped a rainbow here on first baseman Matt Olson, who knows how to swing and miss with the best of them.
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Jace Fry’s Slider – Admittedly, this one is as much about Joey Gallo’s reaction than the pitch alone, but the Texas left fielder’s bend, cringe and scream were too good to leave out. Plus, credit where it’s due: Fry struck out Gallo to preserve Chicago’s 3-0 lead and pick up his first save.
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Ryan Pressly’s Fastball – Quick: Who throws 99 out of the Twins bullpen? If we didn’t already give away the answer, you may not have known it. But here Pressly is, gassing 99 mph on the outer half and inducing a whiff from Milwaukee’s Jett Bandy. (Cue the star from The More You Know.)
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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