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.
Kyle Crick’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/VioletYawningIbizanhound
It’s truly a blessing for me whenever Kyle Crick pitches because he’s such an obvious choice for these write-ups. I’m still not exactly sure how he got this slider to end up on the inside part of the zone, but I assume it must have been some sort of black magic because no other explanation makes sense.
Kyle Hendricks‘ Curveball
https://gfycat.com/ElectricGoodnaturedHyena
Kyle Hendricks continues to impress this season as he offered up another solid performance last night. Yes, I know three earned runs isn’t amazing, but Hendricks more than made up for it with this disgusting curveball that fooled Raimel Tapia.
Blake Snell’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/UnfinishedBitesizedDiplodocus
We’re going to deduct a point from this one because of Mike Zunino’s errant throw to second base, but we’ll still allow Blake Snell his place in this morning’s edition of Nastiest Pitches because of the beautiful slider that preceded it.
Shane Bieber’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/ClutteredClearBullfrog
This man is giving the entire baseball world Bieber Fever (sorry, weak pun, I know) and for good reason. Shane Bieber allowed only two runs and struck out seven over the course of seven innings, but perhaps the best pitch from his outing was his first strikeout to Max Kepler, a disgusting curveball that dropped out on the Twins leadoff man.
Max Fried’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/TameLoneAsiansmallclawedotter
Speaking of disgusting curveballs, let’s talk about Max Fried. The outing was bad—Fried only went four innings before being pulled—but that doesn’t mean his curveball is any less dominant. If you need proof, look no further than this pitch that completely drops out on Steven Brault.
Luis Castillo’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/UglyDistinctJumpingbean
Let’s finish off this morning with Luis Castillo, who last night fanned eight Cardinals over six fantastic innings. As always Castillo’s changeup was lethal, as Marcell Ozuna learned the hard way in the bottom of the third.
GIF of the Night
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below, and the winner will be featured in the GIF of the First Quarter Contest.
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