Joe Kelly’s Slider + The Nastiest Pitching GIFs from Monday’s Games

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.

Joe Kelly’s Slider – Kelly has found his home in the majors as he plays the fireman inside the Red Sox bullpen. Featuring triple digits heat with his Fastball sets up his Slider beautifully, which doesn’t even need to be near the plate to get horrible swings, like this flail from Rougned Odor to end the eighth frame last night. (Thanks to @ATarandek for the tip!)

Marcus Stroman’s Fastball – With his low strikeout totals, we can forget that Stroman sports some filthy movement on his pitches. Take his heater for example, that zoomed back to the outside corner at a blistering 96mph against Aaron Judge. 

Ian Kennedy’s Curveball – Kennedy was at his peak yesterday against the Mariners, using both his Fastball and Curveball to debilitiate batters. His prettiest strikeout may have been with this hook to Robinson Cano that fell from nose to toes. (Thanks to @travturner22 for the tip!)

Tyler Lyons‘ Slider – Lyons has had a rocky season in the Cardinals’ pen, but it’s not because of a bad breaking ball. He fanned back-to-back Marlins with the pitch yesterday, starting with Christian Yelich as the pitch fell off the outside corner in a hurry. (Thanks to @BLAKEKONS for the tip!)

Luis Castillo’s Fastball – The camera angle doesn’t do this pitch justice, but rookie Castillo was handed the task of mitigating the Rockies offense inside of Coors and impressed by striking out eight Colorado batters. If that’s not enough, this 100mph Fastball blown by Nolan Arenado for a strikeout in the fifth inning should do the trick.

Dellin Betances‘ Curveball – We feature Betances a good amount here, but with the amount of times he’s made batters look foolish, there’s no reason to hold him back. Who doesn’t enjoy watching Jose Bautista flinch on a pitch that lands in the middle of the plate?

Carlos Rodon’s Slider – Monday night showed us the Rodon we’ve wanted to see ever since his initial call up, earning 25 whiffs across the evening. There’s not denying how good Rodon’s Slider is and this one to Matt Chapman was a perfect expression of just how filthy it can be.

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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