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 favorite 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 favorite pitch? Send us a tweet next time @PitcherList and we’ll GIF it up and give you a shoutout here in the article.
Julio Urias’ Slider
Making his first start after an incredible spring, Urias did not disappoint. Though he threw several recap worthy pitches in his 7-strikeout performance, this slider against Steven Duggar represents the pinnacle of his night. If Urias’ slider looks as good all season as it did tonight, the MLB is in big, big trouble.
Alex Wilson’s Cutter
It’s always fun seeing less household names in the roundup, and Alex Wilson certainly fits the bill. The perfectly placed cutter had Tucker Barnhart golfing in Cincinnati last night. The cutter was a great pitch for him last season, so we can look forward to seeing more of Alex Wilson here at Pitcher List this season.
Jordan Hicks’ Slider
Jordan Hicks has some high, high heat but it was his slider, not his triple-digit fastball, that lands him here. We see pitches that make guys look bad every day, but to leave Corey Dickerson looking like Thomas Jane at the end of The Mist takes something extra special.
Aaron Brooks’ Fastball
Another name you don’t hear too often, Brooks absolutely locked Rafael Devers up on this pitch. You can pinpoint the exact moment Devers decided that just not swinging at all was the best option here.
Sean Newcomb’s Slider
To Anthony Rizzo‘s credit, he at least caught a small piece of this one, foul tipping it straight back. That takes nothing away from how absolutely filthy this offering was. If Newcomb can resolve his control issues somewhat, this will be far from the last time we see the electric lefty in our roundups.
Edwin Diaz’s Slider
New digs, same Sugar Diaz. Poor Jorge Alfaro ends up on the Nastiest Pitches piece once again, but how could we not show this off? Nothing like the best closer in baseball doing what he does best.
Mike Clevinger’s Slider
On a day where he struck out a career-high 12 batters, there were a plethora of pitches I could have gone with here, but this kill pitch against Jose Rondon was the best. Clevinger is an absolute beast of a pitcher who we’ve hyped up here at Pitcher List quite a bit, and this was exactly how we wanted to see him start 2019.
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was the last sentence in the Urias writeup a Billy Madison reference, or was that just me?
Was not intentional my man, but I’m gonna roll with it.
I’m not sure about the best closer in basebal line for Diaz. My guy Blake Treinen might have something to say about that.
My guy Brad Hand night have something to say about this