Ross Stripling’s Curveball + the Nastiest GIFs from Sunday’s Games

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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Ross Stripling’s Curveball – The 28-year-old starter dropped another rainbow from heaven Sunday—this time on Colorado’s Raimel Tapia. Stripling picked up seven K’s in six innings despite giving up nine hits in the Dodgers’ 6-4 win.

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Chris Devenski’s Changeup – Devenski brought his Circle of Death change to bear on Tampa Bay’s Matt Duffy, throwing the third baseman off balance with its sharp bite in the seventh.

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Jake Petricka’s Two-Seamer – The arm-side run on this 94 mph fastball was something to behold, as the Blue Jays reliever caught Tigers first baseman John Hicks whiffin’ during mop-up duty.

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Adam Ottavino’s Slider – Sure, Cody Bellinger has something more akin to a rip in timespace than a mere hole in his swing, and Ottavino’s slider itself seems inhuman, so the chances the combination would produce magic are nearly a given. Still, the Dodgers first baseman doesn’t look physically capable of putting bat to ball here. Yikes.

(While we’re on the subject of sliders: shoutout to the movement on Dillon Maples‘.)

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Taylor Cole’s Changeup – Cole tossed three innings of scoreless relief against the Orioles in an 8-2 loss and showed off a dive-bombing changeup to get Adam Jones swinging in the process.

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Diego Castillo’s Two-Seamer – Rays starter Blake Snell continued to prove himself Tampa’s ace with 10 strikeouts in 7.1 innings while featuring an impressive curveball. Astros starter Charlie Morton also continued his dominance and had a devastating hook of his own. But we can’t quit Castillo’s sinker, and its late bend bit into Jose Altuve’s indecision for the looking strike.

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Luis Severino’s Slider – The Yankees starter didn’t need to be all that good on a night where his counterpart, Boston’s David Price, imploded in Yankee Stadium. But Severino hit 100 mph on his final pitch (his 99th) and featured a biting slider that Jackie Bradley Jr. couldn’t touch earlier in the night.

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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