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 Second 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.
Congrats to Stephen Strasburg’s Curveball for winning Nastiest Pitching GIF of the Week! It was a close battle with plenty of deserving pitches, but making Jose Altuve flinch that badly earned the title.
Josh Hader’s Fastball – We don’t talk much about Hader here at Pitcher List, but if he can make batters take swings like this often, we’ll be featuring him plenty. Corey Seager hit the deck after chasing this high-and-tight pitch, creating one of the ugliest hacks you’ll see all year. (Thanks to @Sam__Bornstein for the tip!)
Sonny Gray’s Slider – Gray has been just as advertised and more for the pinstripes and cruised through seven frames for a well deserved victory. He helped himself out of a jam in the sixth by turning to this 0-1 Slider that Mitch Haniger didn’t come close to making contact with.
Blake Treinen’s Fastball – It’s well known that Treinen has one of the most ridiculous heaters in the game and this first pitch to Nomar Mazara is as good as they come. Treinen spotted the pitch on the inside corner after the 98mph Fastball started at Mazara’s chest. Crazy.
Luis Castillo’s Changeup – One of the brightest rookies of the year has been Castillo, who dominated once again as he fanned nine Pirates on Saturday. His Changeup has been his money pitch to playo ff his upper 90s heat, and used the pitch to sneak under Josh Harrison’s bat for the strikeout in the sixth.
Shane Greene’s Fastball – Greene was called upon to collect the five out save for the Tigers and got the job done, sealing the Detroit victory with a fantastic Two-Seamer that ran back to the plate at 96mph. That’s how you end a game with an exclamation point.
Yu Darvish’s Curveball – It was good to see Darvish back on the hill again, though it wasn’t his overpowering self we’re used to seeing. Still, he made some beautiful pitches including making Orlando Arcia buckle his knees at this Curveball that feel from the sky.
Mitch Moreland’s Fastball – It’s always fun to watch position players get their chance on the hill and Moreland looked surprisingly decent against the Orioles during Friday’s blowout. Watch him blow away Caleb Joseph with some high “heat” at 90mph.
GIF Of The Night
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below and the winner will be featured in the GIF of the Second Half Contest.
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