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 First 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.
Lance Lynn’s Fastball – Lynn isn’t known for stunning batters with a Two-Seamer, however he pulled off the pitch plenty last night in Arizona and this one to Jake Lamb was easily our favorite. This pitch was en route to Lamb’s belt before making a hard right turn over the inside corner and deserves our love.
James Shields‘ Curveball – It’s not every start that Shields finds his way into these roundups, but throwing a heavy hook that reminds us of Yu Darvish’s “sky ball” will certainly do the trick. It’s incredible that this pitch finishes inside the strike zone.
Clayton Kershaw’s Slider – Kershaw simply has so many ways to destroy you and while his Fastball command and Curveball are the first that come to mind, don’t forget his Slider that can sneak over the outside corner to unsuspecting hitters. There just isn’t a good plan of attack as a hitter.
Michael Fulmer’s Curveball – Fulmer is known for throwing pitches starting i nthe mid 80s with his Slider and Changeup, but after traveling 26 outs into the game, Fulmer whipped out a new pitch, this Curveball coming in at 77mph. He doesn’t have the command of the pitch quite yet, but that drop was incredibly impressive and had me hoping we get to see more of it this season. (Thanks to @PitchingNinja and Redditor notwutiwantd for the tip!)
Chris Archer’s Slider – It wasn’t the overwhelming dominance that we’ve seen from Archer in the past, but he threw a Quality Start against the Pirates during his trip to Pittsburgh. His first strikeout of the night came with his world famous Slider that had a ton of movement at 91mph to Josh Bell. (Thanks to @fins_central for the tip!)
Jon Lester’s Cutter – This pitch isn’t the flashiest of offerings, but it’s satisfying to see Lester’s Cutter glide along the very bottom of the strikezone and get Anthony Rendon for the backwards K. His frustration tells it all.
Corey Kluber’s Fastball – The Klubot is on such an incredible run right now and while his Slider gets all of the love, we can’t ignore the fantastic run he gets on his heater. Watch him stun Joey Gallo with the pitch to close the eighth inning yesterday.
GIF Of The Night
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below and the winner will be featured in the GIF of the First Half Contest.
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That slider was not close to Kershaw’s most impressive pitch last night. There were so many sliders and curveballs that had crazy sharp break and got whiffed on.
It’s hard to argue against that – everything Kershaw throws is just filthy. What I love about this one is that it’s an element of his success that is rarely documented yet is just so deadly. This is an 0-2 pitch that clearly lands in the zone but isn’t even swung at. Amazing.