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. 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.
Craig Kimbrel’s Curveball – The side-angle delivery makes Kimbrel’s Knuckle-Curveball act more like a Slider than other deuces, but regardless of its delineation, this pitch is all kinds of filthy. The slow motion of this pitch curling back to nip the outside corner is way too fun to watch over and over again.
Jesse Chavez’s Fastball – Chavez isn’t going to be a regular in these roundups, but we couldn’t ignore the late ride of this heater as it just hit the outside corner. Josh Reddick may have thought this pitch was off the plate, but it’s way too close to take 1-2 as Chavez earned this punchout.
A.J. Griffin’s Curveball – While its down-the-middle location isn’t the greatest place to spot a pitch, we couldn’t help but enjoy Griffin getting a big whiff from Adam Rosales on this slooowww 66mph Curveball. We can feel the heavy regret from Rosales with every loop.
Jharel Cotton’s Changeup – Cotton’s Changeup has gotten plenty of attention thus far in the season and rightly so. It can make some of the more fearsome batters look foolish with each offering, like Rougned Odor falling to a knee trying to make contact with this slow ball in the first inning.
Blake Snell’s Curveball – Snell pitched up to the task against a powerful Red Sox lineup and closed the book on the fifth inning with this perfectly executed Curveball that starts inside the zone before falling down-and-away off the corner.
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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Hey Nick, Cotton’s change is more a “Screwball”. I’ve heard a few announcers call it a Screwball, and if you watch the movement, it’s much closer to a Screwball then a circle change. If you compare it to Oliver Drake (who everyone says throws a Screwball), it’s the same pitch.
I’ve heard this quite a bit lately (I blame the Royals announcers who kept calling in a Screwball and it confused everyone) and I think it’s time to set the record straight.
A Screwball is a Curveball that acts like the opposite arm’s Curveball. That is, it’s a LHP Curveball in every way, except it’s a RHP throwing it, so it bends arm-side instead of glove side.
Cotton’s Changeup is not this. Here are a couple links talking specifically about Cotton’s Changeup that details why it moves like it does, how he releases it, and its grip. It’s a Changeup through-and-through with a bigger emphasis on getting on the side of the ball to add horizontal movement.
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/introducing-baseballs-next-top-changeup/
https://twitter.com/MLBNetwork/status/851625248084635648
Keep fighting the good fight, man.