Chaz Roe’s Slider and the Nastiest Pitches from 5/12

Every morning, we review the nastiest pitches from the previous day’s games in glorious high-definition 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 Quarter Contest. Did we miss your favorite pitch? Send us a tweet next time @PitcherList, and we’ll GIF it up and give you a shoutout here in the article.

 

Chaz Roe’s Slider

 

https://gfycat.com/officialperiodiclarva

 

Kicking off this post-Mother’s Day slate of nastiest pitches is this magical slider from Chaz Roe, which he somehow was able to will back in the zone to strike out DJ Lemaiheu and end the seventh inning.

 

Lucas Giolito’s Changeup

 

https://gfycat.com/RevolvingCalmAntlion

 

It seems like we’ve finally gotten what we were expecting from Lucas Giolito. After years of being a top prospect (and a few years of being a letdown) Giolito seems to have found a rhythm in the majors, with much of the credit for his success going to his changeup, which sports an 18% swinging-strike rate. Here he is showcasing that pitch in what was a seven-inning, one-run gem against the Blue Jays.

 

Corbin Martin’s Changeup

 

https://gfycat.com/NiftyHopefulCurassow

 

Corbin Martin’s debut was surely one to remember. The 23-year-old top-100 prospect from Houston’s farm system was racking up strikeout after strikeout. But no pitch was as filthy as this changeup that helped Martin finish off the top half of the third inning.

 

Blake Snell’s Curveball

 

https://gfycat.com/VerifiableThoroughBeagle

 

Twelve strikeouts, tw0 earned runs … and just one out away from a quality start (my condolences to anyone who lost that category because of Blake Snell). And although he might not have gotten a tally in the QS column yesterday, Snell showed off his lethal curve against the Yankees, fooling Miguel Andujar with this gorgeous pitch to end the fourth inning.

 

Stephen Strasburg’s Curveball

 

https://gfycat.com/ImaginativePiercingGannet

 

Hyun-Jin Ryu’s near no-no was the big story in the series closer between the Dodgers and the Nationals yesterday. However, despite Ryu’s gem, this curveball from Stephen Strasburg takes the cake as the nastiest pitch from this matchup.

 

Aaron Sanchez’s Fastball, Changeup, and Curveball

 

https://gfycat.com/populartimelykudu

 

https://gfycat.com/MelodicMedicalBuck

 

https://gfycat.com/ThisIcyAxisdeer

 

I apologize. I truly do. I could not decide which of these three pitches from Aaron Sanchez was nastiest, so I had to include all of them for you to decide. Although Sanchez might not have had a great start (five earned runs), each of his 11 strikeouts was a thing of pure beauty, so I had to include more than one in today’s Nastiest Pitches.

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GIF of the Night

 

Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below, and the winner will be featured in the GIF of the First Quarter Contest.

 

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