Every week we review the nastiest pitches from the previous week in glorious HD GIFs. Don’t forget to vote for your favorite pitch and and check back this weekend to see if it will be in contention for the GIF of the Second Half Contest, which will be live this All-Star week. 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.
Felipe Rivero’s Fastball – Rivero is getting a double feature in this week’s contest. First up is his Fastball that can finish at-bats easily This pitch at 101 MPH on the inside black leaves Keon Broxton flummoxed.
Felipe Rivero’s Slider – Next up is Rivero’s slide piece that makes hitters jump, literally. Rivero misses his spot badly here, but Travis Shaw sees an inside Fastball heading for his legs before the ball breaks over the inside corner. Nasty.
Justin Verlander’s Curveballs – Verlander pitched great last night and is a sleeper trade deadline piece for a Tigers team that is going nowhere fast, and needs to replenish its farm system. Verlander’s Curveball had great bite, and he was able to throw it for strikes or bury it down in the zone at will as Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas can respectively attest.
Chris Sale’s Slider – The Sale trade this offseason with the White Sox is looking like a steal right now no matter what Yoan Moncada and Michael Kopech turn out to be. The Red Sox got their ace of now and the future at a cheap cost going forward. Here Gary Sanchez thinks he’s getting a Fastball in his happy zone before the ball ends up close to his back-foot. Nasty. (Thanks to Redditor TheBrimic for the tip!)
Jameson Taillon’s Curveball – It’s wonderful seeing Taillon not only return from testicular cancer, but to do so while dominating with each start. He collected eight strikeouts against the Brewers yesterday and his Curveball was as good as we’ve seen it. Just check out the drop he got on this pitch to close the top of the first.
Marcus Stroman’s Sliders – I don’t know why Stroman has been hiding his Slider until now, maybe he learned a new trick, but it’s one of the most beautiful pitches to watch with its tremendous horizontal movement. Twice last night Mookie Betts could only wave at outside Sliders that ended up nowhere near the plate. The second time he almost held up, but ended up swinging through very awkwardly. (Thanks to @DMcComasOB and @jasoncollette for the tip!)
Clayton Kershaw’s Curveball – Kershaw now has 15 wins on the season, and while wins are mostly unimportant, he now has an outside shot at 30 wins for the season. This Curveball to Melky Cabrera seems to drop from the sky all the way to the dirt in only 60 feet.
GIF Of The Week
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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