Every morning we review the five best pitches from the previous day’s playoff games in glorious HD GIFs. Don’t forget to vote for your favorite pitch and check back when we review the best pitches for the divisional series next 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.
Trevor Rosenthal’s Fastball – Rosenthal struck out the side to seal the 9th inning for the Cardinals in game one, ending it with this painted 98 MPH Fastball to Kris Bryant. Ignore the spot on the TBS K-Zone, they were wildly inaccurate through their telecasts this weekend.
Noah Syndergaard’s Slider – Thor has been featuring The Warthen Slider, resulting in a tighter, harder break on his slide piece that creates a bigger differential between his Curveball and Slider, while making it tough for hitters to adjust to the break as they expect a Fastball. Thor had many victims with the pitch during Saturday’s performance, including Yasmani Grandal in the 7th on this prime example of the devastating Slider.
Marcus Stroman’s Fastball #1 – After a rough first inning, Stroman was locked in and his Fastball was looking super pretty. Watch it sail back across the plate to get a stunned Shin-Soo Choo for strike three.
Marcus Stroman’s Fastball #2 – He pulled off the same feat to Rougned Odor in the following frame, this time pinpointing the bottom inside corner for the backwards K. It was tough to decide between the two pitches, so why not both?
Adam Wainwright’s Curveball – As a baseball fan, it’s great to see Waino back on the hill again. As anyone not rooting for the Cardinals, seeing Kyle Schwarber miss poorly in this classic Wainwright hook is a scary sight to see. Mets fans, I need not remind you of a possible reunion in the NLCS…
Jon Lester’s Cutter – Lester whipped out this excellent 3-2 pitch to Randal Grichuk in game one, nipping the outside corner with a comeback Cutter to earn the strikeout.
Zack Greinke’s Changeup – Despite allowing a pair of solo shots, Greinke looked excellent on the mound for the Dodgers Saturday night. Here he perfectly lined his Changeup along the outside corner, throwing it just high enough to stay a strike for most of the pitch before diving into the dirt.
Aaron Sanchez’s Fastball – Choo was given identical treatment by Sanchez in game three, once again flinching at a front-door Fastball that returned to the plate to his dismay. (Thanks to Reddit user Funkagenda and @jonrwalton for the tip!)
Clayton Kershaw’s Curveball – It wasn’t the best of Kershaw’s nights as he walked four to go along with 11 strikeouts, but he did a great job of getting his Curveball into the dirt when he needed to. Lucas Duda didn’t have much of a chance against the signature hook.
Kyle Hendricks‘ Fastball – Hendricks was just the answer the Cubs had in mind for game two, and was putting on a clinic throwing moving Fastballs and well executed Changeups. His Fastball features a ton of horizontal movement, and this strikeout to Jon Jay is simply run-of-the-mill for the 25-year-old.
GIF Of The Weekend
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below and the winner will be featured in the GIF of the Divisional Series contest.
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