Every morning we review the five 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 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.
Andrew Miller’s Slider – Miller had his first appearance of the season as he was given the task to close the door on the Astros. He struck out the side with his a deadly slider that right-handers simply can’t resist. Watch how far inside the slide piece gets as he fanned Matt Duffy.
Ubaldo Jimenez’s Fastball – We had a peek at vintage Jimenez yesterday as he struck out nine Twins in seven frames. His Fastball was lively, including this comeback Fastball to send Danny Santana back to the dugout. (Thanks to Reddit user yung_jocp for the tip!)
John Lackey’s Curveball – It wasn’t a pretty debut for Lackey in a Cubs uniform, but the 37-year-old escaped with the Win as the mighty Chicago offense bailed him out after allowing 6 ER. Still, he threw a hefty dosage of solid pitches, including this hook to punch out Nick Ahmed.
Phil Hughes‘ Cutter – In typical Hughes fashion, not a single walk was issued by the Twins right-hander as he collected four strikeouts against the O’s. He spotted this comeback Cutter perfectly ion the inside corner in the first to freeze Manny Machado.
Cody Allen’s Curveball – Full disclosure: This pitch was actually thrown on Wednesday night, but given the lack of impressive offerings yesterday, we felt it necessary to share it today. Allen may be one of the least talked about closers with some of the best stuff. He dismantled Xander Bogaerts on three pitches, the second of which was this beautiful Curveball that darted off the plate at the last moment. (Thanks to Reddit user ottervomit for the tip!)
GIF Of The Night
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below and the winner will be featured in this weekend’s GIF of the Week contest.
[polldaddy poll=9379227]