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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Brandon Morrow’s Fastball – For the second time in three days, Morrow’s tailing, high-90s fastball punched his ticket to a spot on this list. Perhaps the Cubs were on to something when they signed him to be their closer—you know, since he hasn’t given up a run in 2018. His 0.00 ERA is of course a tad misleading since his 2.73 bbFIP says regression is coming—but that number’s still plenty good. Here, he obliterated Travis Shaw’s hopes and dreams at 98 mph on his way to his fifth save in five outings since April 19.
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Zack Wheeler’s Splitter – The 27-year-old traveled to San Diego sporting an ornery splitter, and the Padres’ Jose Pirela found himself on the business end of it to close the fifth inning of the Mets’ 14-2 win. Wheeler picked up nine strikeouts in five innings and walked just two. (Shoutout to Twitter user @stemogstel86 for the tip!)
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Tony Barnette’s Two-Seamer – The Rangers right-hander relied on his signature leg-dangle and some streaking arm-side run to chew up Toronto’s Steve Pearce on this two-seam fastball. He couldn’t keep a harness on its movement, though, as he walked the Blue Jays DH three pitches later.
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Gio Gonzalez’s Curveball – Gio brought the hook to bear on Arizona’s David Peralta to end the fifth inning of a 3-1 Nats win, freezing the Diamondbacks outfielder in the process. After Gonzalez’s eight K’s over seven innings, he’s continuing to outperform his peripherals once again with a 2.67 ERA (4.02 SIERA, 3.96 bbFIP).
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Gerrit Cole’s Slider – The 27-year-old turned in his fourth double-digit strikeout performance in six tries—mowing down 12 A’s this time around. Above, he took care of Matt Olson with a swooping slider aimed squarely at the first baseman’s back foot.
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Edgar Santana’s Two-Seamer – Pirates starter Nick Kingham took a perfect game into the seventh in his major league debut Sunday. And while it would have been mind-blowing to witness him finish it, that we got to see Santana’s nasty sinker to St. Louis’ Harrison Bader acted as a small consolation.
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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