This one hits a bit different! Fans of our previously daily nastiest pitches articles will be familiar with the content in this new weekly article that covers all the need-to-know highlights of baseball from the past week in GIF form. From cool moments, nastiest pitches, and the moments you’d want to forget, our GIFs of the week are sure to entertain.
Cool Moments
The Hunter Renfroe Method
Stop the count! The award for catch of the season was already decided on opening day with new Angels outfielder Hunter Renfroe pulling off an unlikely improvised no-look catch behind his back to deny Jace Peterson at least a double. Nobody has seen anything like that before. Wowsers!
Ronald steals second base…literally!
The Padres series against Atlanta has been fantastic to watch. Two exciting teams playing great baseball to start the year. Ronald Acuña Jr. took things a step further after dislodging the base when successfully stealing second – after being called safe, the Atlanta superstar kept the base for himself before trying to put it back where it belongs.
Bobby Witt Jr. takes a trip to center field
The wind was swirling in Kansas City as the Royals faced a menacing Blue Jays lineup, so much so that the cameraperson could not keep the lens from shaking for much of the early going. That did not phase exciting young Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., though. The starlet got on his horse early to track down a looping hit from leadoff man George Springer that he ended up miraculously catching in center field. I repeat: he is a shortstop!
First Pitch Detroit
It was quite the moment in Detroit when Miguel Cabrera was called out of the dugout on home Opening Day to throw the ceremonial first pitch alongside some of the greats of Detroit’s sporting teams. Miggy joined Nicklas Lidström, Calvin Johnson Jr., and Ben Wallace in what was a cool moment for all Detroit sports fans.
Nastiest Pitches
Kodai Senga’s Ghost Fork Splitter
The newest nastiest pitch on the scene is from the Mets’ Japanese import Kodai Senga, who debuted his vicious “ghost fork” forkball splitter during his impressive first outing. Senga notched eight strikeouts across 5.1 innings, including this phenomenal 85 mph ghost fork that even made Yuri Gurriel’s bat disappear.
Matt Brash’s Slider
Jose Ramirez is one of the best hitters in baseball, and not one to be disrespected or laughed at. But Matt Brash has skills and unfortunately this was just downright unfair. Ramirez was spinning like a breakdancer before hitting the deck after trying to reach this mesmerizing 87 mph slider that struck him out.
Brent Honeywell Jr.’s Screwball
Hey, a screwball! That doesn’t happen everyday, and when it is this good, it deserves a strike whether the hitter swung or not. Sam Hilliard wasn’t too happy about the call but my oh my that pitch is beautiful.
Dustin May’s Sinker
Holy moly, look at the 19″ of run on this 100 mph two-seam fastball from the fiery Dustin May! That is incredible and good enough to win any “nastiest pitch of the week” title. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is still trying to work out what just happened to him.
Whoopsy!
Travis Kelce should stick to football
Step up, Travis Kelce! The Kansas City Chiefs tight end could not have done a more laughable job at a ceremonial first pitch as he attempted to throw to Shane Bieber behind the mound. Inviting his mother up to witness the debacle, the Cleveland native looked the part and got the crowd going before bombing the pitch into the turf, sending it scuttling behind Bieber and the mascot as the starter jumped away to avoid being hit. It was all smiles as Kelce apologized for such a bad job!
Ryan McKenna is this week’s winner
…and my thoughts are that he may drop the trophy. The beleaguered Orioles outfielder had the game in his glove when moving to secure a fly ball with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning with his team leading the Red Sox 8-7. However, somehow he dropped the ball. The Red Sox went on to win with a walk-off home run. Ouch!