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 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.
Aaron Sanchez’s Fastball – While it was a difficult day on the hill for Sanchez, he was looking like his nasty self early on. He’s known for the horizontal movement on his heater, and we could watch this one coming in at 97mph to Matt Wieters over and over. (Thanks to Redditor iamlowsound for the tip!)
CC Sabathia’s Slider – There hasn’t been a hotter pitcher in baseball with CC allowing just 4 ER total in his last seven starts. He continued the trend in Minnesota using his Slider and Cutter to debilitate Twins batters, like stunning Byron Buxton with this luscious backdoor Slider.
Noah Syndergaard’s Fastball – After giving up seven hits, two runs and two walks last week, Thor returned to his normal godlike form this week against the Pirates. This scorching Fastball to Andrew McCutchen came in at 101 mph and resulted in one of 11 strikeouts for Syndergaard. (Thanks to Redditors kars4kidz and banana455 for the tips!)
Stephen Strasburg’s Changeup – Washington’s elite starter is proving why he was the No. 1 overall pick in 2009. Just look at this Changeup that moves into another zip code, far away from the bat of Anthony Rizzo.
Zach Britton’s Fastball – It seems like everyone on the mound in this game was throwing nasty stuff. This Fastball from Britton dropped out of reach of David Ortiz with some sinking motion. (Thanks to @ShafiqDe and @Mlb_Baller for the tips!)
Jeremy Jeffress‘ Curveball – It’s always fun to see pitchers show their emotion, and after Jeffress sealed the victory with this great hook to Corey Seager, he gave us a show. He deserved it.
Jameson Taillon’s Fastball – Taillon shut out the Mets for eight innings as he pitched his second game in the bigs on Tuesday night. His stuff was on point, like this Fastball to Kelly Johnson with incredible left-to-right action. (Thanks to Redditor Ryuuken1789 for the tip!)
Jose Fernandez’s Curveball – Name it a Slider if you like (we follow Pitchf/x’s label), but at least we can both agree that watching Jean Segura bail out of the way of this breaking ball is immensely entertaining. (Thanks to Redditor destinybond for the tip!)
Max Scherzer’s Fastball – Mad Max was at it again Monday night, tossing perfect 1st and 3rd innings en route to another double-digit strikeout performance. This 96 mph Fastball added Jason Heyward to Scherzer’s list of 11 Ks.
GIF Of The Week
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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