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.
Chris Sale’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/FancyLoneBasenji
It was a career night for Chris Sale: 17 strikeouts, seven innings or less, and a no decision! Whatever I write here will not do proper justice to Sale’s performance, so I’ll just leave strikeout number 17 from last night right here so you can watch history happen over and over again. Enjoy, folks.
Sergio Romo’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/ScaredSlipperyHuemul
The Marlins have not had (and probably won’t have) much fun this season. But hey, at least they can watch this loop of Sergio Romo absolutely fooling Brandon Lowe with a dirty changeup to get the Marlins out of an eighth-inning jam last night.
Noah Syndergaard’s Fastball
https://gfycat.com/SeriousVelvetyCurassow
Full count, two outs: Who are you going to call to paint the strike zone with 98 mph heat? Noah Syndergaard, that’s who. Poor Juan Soto thought he had a walk on this pitch, but Thor had other plans, sending the Nationals slugger back to the dugout with a backward K.
Clayton Kershaw’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/FortunateHelplessAfricanclawedfrog
There’s a reason guys such as Clayton Kershaw stay around the majors so long. It’s because they have that one pitch that is nearly unhittable, and for Kershaw, that pitch is his curveball, which absolutely drops out on Ian Kinsler, helping the three-time Cy Young Award winner get his first out of the game.
Chris Paddack’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/IncompatibleWarlikeGourami
It seems that someone has finally caught Chris Paddack on an off night. The rookie sensation faced trouble from the Dodgers lineup the entire night, but if there was one good moment from the outing, it was this changeup with which Paddack was somehow able to hit the black to get Chris Taylor looking.
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.
[polldaddy poll=10319409]
That Syndergaard fastball is a great pitch, but it definitely looks a couple inches inside. Tough break for Soto, because that’s unhittable.