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.
Dellin Betances‘ Curveball – The camera angle on this GIF shows just how Dellin gets so many flinches on his great Curveball. The ball looks like a Fastball coming at the hitter’s waist before changing directions and hitting the strike zone. All of that in the mid to upper 80s. Pitches like this make me wonder how anyone gets a hit off Dellin.
Michael Fulmer’s Fastball – Monday night didn’t give us the performance we wanted to see as Fulmer returned from his two-week DL stint, but he did flex his muscles a bit as he spotted this 97mph Fastball on the inside corner. This kind of movement in the upper 90s paired with great command is a thing of beauty.
Marcus Stroman’s Slider – Stroman has come into his own with his Slider this season, often getting batters to chase this pitch out of the zone for the punchout. Here we have an elegantly placed slide piece that just barely nips the outside corner to ring up Peter Bourjos. A thing of beauty.
Brandon Workman’s Curveball – This pitch would normally get lost in the mix coming in the top of the ninth with a four run deficit, but Workman broke Edwin Encarnacion’s back with a bender that should be remembered for days. (Thanks to @PitchingNinja for the tip!)
Raisel Iglesias‘ Slider – Iglesias struck out the side last night, and he started out with a strikeout of reigning NL MVP Kris Bryant. His Slider looks like a Fastball down in the zone for Bryant to drive before the balls breaks sharply and Bryant is left swinging at air.
Aaron Nola’s Fastball – But we couldn’t stop there with Nola as his Two-Seamer is just too much fun to watch. This was a simple 0-0 pitch to start the fourth inning, but man does its bend back toward the plate get us all kind of giddy. There might not be a prettier pitch to watch in the majors.
Luis Castillo’s Changeup – Castillo has been a revelation since his callup this year, and he is showing the potential of a top of the rotation starter. Castillo uses his big Fastball with crazy movement most of the time, but when he needs to keep hitters off balance he uses a good Changeup like this one to Victor Caritini.
Brad Peacock’s Slider – Peacock has always been death to righty batters, but this year he’s shown some improvement getting those pesky lefties out as well. This pitch to Gregor Blanco looks like a Fastball in his happy zone before it breaks sharply off the plate. Dirty.
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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