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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Diego Castillo’s Two-Seamer – If you prefer starting pitching, you probably aren’t a fan of Tampa Bay’s bullpen days. But one of the positive effects of the Rays’ parade of relievers is that many of them bring fire and movement, and you’re just as likely to see 97 mph with tail in the early innings as you are in the late stages of a game on certain days. Here, Castillo stood as yet another example of that as he roasted the Yankees’ Aaron Judge in the top of the fifth with this fastball.
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Jeremy Jeffress‘ Splitter – The Brewers reliever was pumped to drop St. Louis’ Marcel Ozuna with his this put-away pitch for one of his two K’s on the day.
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Danny Duffy’s Two-Seamer – The Royals starter brought the movement on this fastball and made one of the game’s best players, Houston’s Carlos Correa, look feeble in the bottom of the fourth. Though he only grabbed two whiffs with his two-seamer, the Royals starter picked up a respectable 13 swings and misses overall on his way to seven K’s.
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Jordan Hicks‘ Two-Seamer – Imagine having to put wood on this filth. Hicks was at it again Friday, and it was the Brewers’ Lorenzo Cain’s turn for punishment as the Cardinals rookie busted him up-and-in with his signature 100 mph heat.
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Kenley Jansen’s Cutter – The Mets’ Devin Mesoraco took a phantom punch then looked to the umpire for help on the call as the Dodgers closer delivered his trademark cutter on his way to his 19th save of the year.
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Zach Eflin’s Curveball – This was the lone whiff Eflin picked up on his curve vs. the Nationals, but it was a pretty one as he got Daniel Murphy swinging for one of his five K’s.
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Patrick Corbin’s Slider – The Pirates’ David Freese summed up how his team handled Corbin’s put-away pitch by chucking his bat on this fourth-inning offering, as the D-backs starter picked up twenty-one swings and misses with his slider alone.
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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Might be one of the toughest ones this year. There are some NASTY fastballs in this round!