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 and check back this weekend to see if it will be in contention for the GIF of the First Half. 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.
Congrats to Drew Storen’s Slider for winning GIF of the Week! We may have ourselves a front-runner for the Best GIF of the Year.
Aaron Sanchez’s Curveball – It wasn’t Sanchez’s best against the A’s on Friday, though his stuff did look electric at times. This Curveball he spun to Yonder Alonso was mighty pretty, getting a huge amount of depth to earn the strikeout. (Thanks to Redditor The_Don_Giggity for the tip!)
Tanner Roark’s Fastball – Roark had himself quite a day, fanning 15 Twins en route to the Win in Washington. There were plenty of pitches to choose from, but this lively Fastball to Max Kepler had enough beautiful run to earn top honors.
Steven Matz’s Curveball – After his first start was a major disappointment, Matz has rebounded well, dismantling the Braves in his latest start. The hook was public enemy #1, striking out plenty of Atlanta batters including Daniel Castro in the opening frame.
Mike Fiers‘ Split-Change – Fiers is known to collect a strikeout or two through his outings, as he features much better secondary offerings than his Fastball. For example, check out this Split-Change that featured some excellent movement to nip the outside corner to freeze Chris Young.
Blake Snell’s Curveball – It was an exciting Saturday as we got our first look at young southpaw Blake Snell. He produced an excellent outing against the Yankees in the Bronx as his Curveball debilitated batters left and right. Just look at the bend on this yacker to Brian McCann. (Thanks to Reddior yung_jocp for the tip!)
Kelvin Herrera’s Slider – Kelvin has been working on using his Slider more this year, and if this GIF is any indication, he should continue the trend. There was nothing Manny Machado could do but watch its filthy movement. (Thanks to Redditor Kanabuss for the tip!)
Stephen Strasburg’s Curveball – Strasburg cruised through seven innings before running into trouble in the eighth as he collected double-digit strikeouts against the Twins on Sunday. He mixed in his pitches well, creating this fun backwards K to John Ryan Murphy with a fantastic deuce.
GIF Of The Weekend
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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