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 @ThePitcherList and we’ll GIF it up + give you a shoutout here in the article.
Craig Kimbrel’s Curveball – Kimbrel had the pleasure of striking out 4 batters in one inning in his outing last night after his strikeout pitch to Nomar Mazara ended up hitting his back foot and rolling to the backstop. The slo motion shot shows just how far Mazara was from hitting the ball after the ridiculous break that Kimbrel gets on the pitch.
Adam Ottavino’s Sliders – Ottavino’s windup is extremely closed so the ball seems like it’s coming from behind righty batters as it makes it’s way toward the plate. What makes Ottavino great is his Slider gets so much movement he’s able to fool lefties as well. These two Sliders to Odubel Herrera and Maikel Franco show how Ottavino gets hitters of both hands to look foolish.
Matt Albers‘ Fastballs – Albers struck out the side in his one inning of work last night using pinpoint command and the movement of his Fastball. Both these Fastballs to Mike Zunino and Taylor Motter hit the same spot on the outside corner for backwards Ks.
Drew Pomeranz’s Curveball – Pomeranz is throwing his Curveball over 43% of the time this year because of the sharp break you see in this GIF. He got 11 Ks last night including this one that froze Mike Napoli.
Dinelson Lamet’s Slider – I had never heard of Lamet before last night, but that just means he’s almost assuredly available in your fantasy league. This slider is thrown with great athleticism and has sharp downward action that Wilmer Flores can only wave at.
Mike Fiers‘ Curveball – Fiers has a 5 pitch that he uses to keep hitters off balance, but to start 2017 he’s had trouble keeping the ball in the park with a 3.47 HR/9. Maybe Fiers should focus more on his Curveball, which falls off the table like a stone on this pitch to Tyler Collins.
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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These pitch GIF posts are consistently the highlights of my mornings.