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 check back this weekend to see if it will be in contention for the GIF of the First Half Contest. Did we miss your favorite pitch? Send us a tweet next time @PitcherList and we’ll GIF it up + give you a shoutout here in the article.
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Alex Cobb’s Splitter – Cobb started his second half on a strong note, giving up just one run in five strong innings. Here he used his devastating splitter to fan Curtis Granderson, one of his four k’s on the day.
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Carlos Carrasco’s Curveball – Carrasco struck out eight Rangers on Saturday, which included this devastating 85 mile per hour hook in on the hands of Shin-Soo Choo. Nasty.
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Sonny Gray’s Fastball – Six strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings was a good start to the second half for Gray, who had his heater with heavy arm-side run on point all night.
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Justin Verlander’s Curveball – Verlander picked up right where he left off, fanning 11 in six shutout innings to kick off the second half. His big, loopy breaking ball dove out of the zone and well away from the bat of Kole Calhoun for strike three.
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Dylan Covey’s Fastball – Covey scattered just two hits in 8 1/3 innings on Saturday, nearly getting himself a complete game shutout. His two-seamer was money all night, here diving back onto the inside part of the plate for strike three.
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Corbin Burnes‘ Slider – Burnes has been electric since getting called up to join the Milwaukee bullpen. He has a wicked high-80’s slider that he has used to strike out eight hitters in six big league innings. That included Matt Kemp here on a check swing from a nasty slider off the plate.
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Clayton Kershaw’s Curveball – It’s pretty darn hard to skip Kershaw’s curveball any day that he starts. Check out how sharply this thing dives down and out of the zone. What once looked like a meatball is suddenly in the dirt, and even home run king Jesus Aguilar can’t get any wood on it.
GIF Of The Night
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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That camera angle on Kershaw’s curve just makes it look so much more impressive.