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 McCullers’ Curveball – McCullers put up yet another 10 strikeout performance on Monday night and his first punchout of the evening may have been his best. This hook bends across the entire plate to get a well deserved whiff from Delino DeShields Jr. and kick off the evening.
Johnny Cueto’s Slider – Cueto had the difficult task of out-dueling the great Clayton Kershaw and stepped up to the challenge, earning the win across seven frames. He earned his victory with plenty of great pitches, like this Slider to Andrew Toles that disappeared in a blink of an eye. (Thanks to @andrew_vargha for the tip!)
Rick Porcello’s Fastball – While we’ve seen Porcello feature plenty more movement on his Fastballs, this Four-Seamer hit the inside corner so perfectly to Chris Davis that we couldn’t refuse its inclusion in today’s roundup. This pitch is exactly what I like to call “half on, half off” when spotting the corners.
Wei-Yin Chen’s Slider – Even with a partially torn UCL, Chen had himself a solid outing against the Rays on Monday. He was getting great movement on his Slider, like this strikeout pitch to Derek Norris that left the zone in a hurry.
Oliver Drake’s Splitter – You might not know who Drake is, but his Splitter sure is fun to watch. Check out this pitch that fell off the plate to Dexter Fowler for the strikeout in the ninth. (Thanks to @TheJKayKid for the tip!)
Luis Severino’s Slider – It wasn’t the dazzling night many hoped for after watching his last three starts, but Severino still made some good pitches through the evening, like this slide piece to Jose Bautista. Enjoy the slow motion show that gives us a great visual of its excellent late bite. (Thanks to Redditor Constant_Gardner11 for the tip!)
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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