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 Colin McHugh’s Curveball for winning Nastiest Pitching GIF of the Week! A close race, and the flinch from Adrian Beltre puts McHugh on top.
Kyle Barraclough’s Slider – While Brad Ziegler has pitched great as the Marlins closer, my money Barraclough is the best pitcher in the surprisingly decent Marlins bullpen. Barraclough’s Slider is his out pitch, and he throws a sharp one with great horizontal and vertical movement to Freddy Galvis.
Felipe Rivero’s Slider – 2017 has been Rivero’s breakout year as he claimed the closer job and showed he can be effective against righties and lefties. This Slider to Scott Schebler looks like Fastball over the plate before diving out of the zone for the swing and miss.
Dinelson Lamet’s Slider – Lamet has been quiet recently, but if his command is on he can breakout for a 10 K game any start, like he did this weekend. Cody Bellinger sees a Fastball in his happy zone before the pitch drops to the ground with great depth. Bellinger can only turn and walk away.
Jake Thompson’s Slider – Thompson was back in the majors and dealing this weekend against the Marlins. Lots of good Sliders this weekend, and Thompson threw a sharp one to K the opposing pitcher, Jose Urena.
Craig Kimbrel’s Fastball – Kimbrel was able to shut the door Friday night and avoid the sweep against the heart of the Yankees lineup. Kimbrel throws from a 3/4’s arm slot, and this pitch almost seems to rise as Kimbrel gets under it. Gary Sanchez had no shot.
A.J. Griffin’s Curveball – Griffin’s strikeout pitch is a sloooooow Curveball that he throws pretty regularly. I don’t think any pitcher in the majors throws in the mid 60s as regularly as Griffin. In the GIF you can see the split second where C.J. Cron waits for the pitch to drop, but he still ends up way out in front. Filthy.
Corey Kluber’s Slider – It was another ho-hum start for Kluber this weekend using his superlative mix of pitches to get 7 Ks and another more than quality start. Joey Candelario doesn’t even seem upset as he walks back to the dugout, but he seems resigned that Kluber was just better this AB.
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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that Lamet slider is definitely a Blake Treinen fastball
Sorry about that! Thanks for letting us know.
It’s been fixed.