Jordan Hicks’ Slider and the Nastiest Pitches from April 7

Every morning, we review the nastiest pitches from the previous day’s games in glorious high-definition GIFs. Don’t forget to vote for your favourite pitch and check back this weekend to see if it will be in contention for the GIF of the First Quarter Contest. Did we miss your favourite pitch? Send us a tweet next time @PitcherList, and we’ll GIF it up and give you a shoutout here in the article.

 

Jordan Hicks‘ Slider

 

https://gfycat.com/handydrearybluejay

 

Hicks used this nasty slider to get the $300-million Manny Machado whiffing to end the inning. It was the first of four outs he would make en route to a save.

 

Diego Castillo’s Fastball

 

https://gfycat.com/concretealarmedfreshwatereel

 

Okay, so this isn’t Jose Alvarado’s fastball, but dang does this pitch have some break to it. Castillo makes Pablo Sandoval look like a little leaguer with this triple-digit beauty.

 

Hector Neris’ Splitter

 

https://gfycat.com/regularalarmedkestrel

 

There’s nothing better than a nasty pitch to finish off a home series win. And it seems that nobody knows that better than Hector Neris. Here he is throwing a filthy splitter right past Nelson Cruz to send the Minnesota Twins home with a tally in the ‘L’ column.

 

Mike Clevinger’s Fastball

 

https://gfycat.com/dapperdirectbittern

 

Any rotation that can tout a player of Mike Clevinger’s caliber as their fourth man is a rotation to be feared. Clevinger’s entire arsenal was in full effect today getting 10 Ks in just five innings, the most disgusting of which was this 97 mph rising fastball that got Rowdy Tellez swinging way out of the zone.

 

Caleb Smith’s Slider

 

https://gfycat.com/delayedredisabellinewheatear

 

The Miami Marlins may not win many games this year, but at least they can look forward to watching Caleb Smith all season long. Through his first two starts he has K’d 15 guys in 11 innings — the most recent one being this disgusting slider he threw right past Johan Camargo.

 

Hector Velázquez’s Changeup

 

https://gfycat.com/fastwearyastarte

 

It felt for a while like the defending champs couldn’t get a pitcher to make outs. That ended today when the Boston Red Sox shutout the Arizona Diamondbacks 1-0. Here’s the filthiest pitch from that shutout, a lethal change from Hector Velazquez.

 

Merrill Kelly’s Fastball

 

https://gfycat.com/frequentgreedychinchilla

 

Is the hype around Kelly for real? After a less than exciting debut, Kelly showed why he deserves respect dealing out nine Ks over eight innings with only one run allowed. However, keep an eye out for the swings and misses, as he only registered nine whiffs, one of which came on this nasty fastball against Jackie Bradley Jr./strong>.

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