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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Anthony DeSclafani’s Fastball – Tony Disco wasn’t at his sharpest on Thursday, but this wicked two-seam fastball sure was. Look at that late action and perfect placement.
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Kyle Freeland’s Slider – At first glance, this just looks like a bad decision to swing by Eric Hosmer. However, this pitch was headed toward the corner of the strike zone until it broke away in a wicked fashion at the last second, leading to one of Freeland’s seven strikeouts on the night.
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Aaron Nola’s Curveball – It was a Happy Nola Day indeed, as the ace right-hander struck out nine in eight shutout innings against the suddenly hapless Nationals. This curveball got a huge whiff from Bryce Harper for strike three.
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Jacob deGrom’s Changeup – deGrom continued his dominance, posting his 18th straight quality start. He fanned 10 in this outing, using his hard, nasty changeup here to get a big swing through.
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Jose Alvarado’s Fastball – I love this pitch. It may not have a ton of movement, but the velocity and slight arm side run make it very aesthetically pleasing, and really difficult to hit.
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Blake Treinen’s Slider – Treinen got boomed by Max Kepler the at-bat before this, and I almost considered not including him today. But then I saw this bad boy and remembered that the Witch can almost never be denied a spot on the nastiest pitches.
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Drew VerHagen’s Curveball – I love featuring fringey relievers in these posts. VerHagen isn’t very good, but with a curveball like that, he should be. His curveball is officially a money pitch, with a 42.6% o-swing rate, a 40.2% zone rate and a 19.6% swinging strike rate.
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Tyler Glasnow’s Slider – Glasnow struck out eight on Thursday, giving him 32 strikeouts in 23 2/3 innings with the Rays. He already looks better than Chris Archer, and although it’s early, it’s looking like the Pirates may regret that one.
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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