Every Monday we review the nastiest pitches from the previous weekends’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. 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 Blake Treinen’s Fastball for winning Nastiest Pitching GIF of the Week! It’s the second week in a row the Nationals’ reliever took the award and he’ll be paired against himself in the opening round tomorrow morning.
Marcus Stroman’s Slider – For those who watched this game, you’ll know Stroman was putting on a clinic with his Slider getting absolutely absurd movement with the pitch all day. Our favorite was this mind blowing pitch to Carlos Correa that we would have swung at even if we were told it wasn’t going to be a strike. Crazy. (Thanks to @julienbel8, @brendonkuhn, and @oakleyam21 for the tip!)
Luis Severino’s Fastball – We love to see pitchers debilitate batters and Severino earned strike two against Keon Broxton with this high-and-tight heater at 99mph. This kills the batter.
Clayton Kershaw’s Curveball – Since we opened the Kershaw vs. Scherzer debate, the #1 pitcher on the planet has looked like his prime self, earning another double digit game as Kershaw went the distance against the Royals. His Curveball was as pretty as ever, here taking care of Jorge Bonifacio to end the sixth.
Nick Pivetta’s Fastball – Pivetta has a handful of impressive strikeout performances already in his rookie year, tallying nine strikeouts for the third time this year as he battled the Padres. He’s been dialing up his Fastball past 95mph with good movement and showed it off in the fourth as he rang up Cory Spangenberg with high heat.
Patrick Corbin’s Sliders – Corbin made Billy Hamilton look silly twice during Sunday’s affair and we couldn’t help but combine them into one GIF. I love how Hamilton has the same reaction after each whiff at the tight Slider down-and-in.
Brad Peacock’s Fastball – I talk a lot about Peacock on the site, mostly focusing on his Slider as a fantastic swing-and-miss pitch, but that overlooks just how much movement his Fastball gets. Check out this pitch as it rides from off the plate outside to the inside corner for a strike. (Thanks to @adamkaufman315 for the tip!)
Luis Castillo’s Fastball – Speaking of pitchers I’ve discussed plenty on Pitcher List, my latest crush is Reds’ rookie Luis Castillo, who is showcasing ace-caliber stuff with a upper 90s heater, excellent Changeup and a putaway Slider. To get a sense of why he’s a special pitcher, check out this 98mph Fastball that hits its spot perfectly, with a touch of ride for an awkward swinging strikeout.
GIF Of The Weekend
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below and the winner will be featured in the GIF of the Week Contest.
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Was scrolling thru the gifs like…”no castillo? What? Can’t be….where…Oh…oh…there it is.”
Was thinking the same thing.. 98 mph with that movement is crazy!!