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 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.
Max Scherzer’s Fastball – Most of you know that Scherzer tied the MLB record for most strikeouts in a game with 20 last night against the Tigers and it would be a sin to leave him off today’s roundup. There were many excellent pitches to choose from, but this Fastball that started in the middle of the plate before riding into Ian Kinsler takes the cake. We often see batters striking out as balls hit them on breaking pitches, but a Fastball? Yeesh.
Louis Coleman’s Slider – Coleman was called upon to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the 7th and got the job done. He threw nearly identically pitches on both 3-1 and 3-2, and we elected to feature the bender that shut the door on the Eric Campbell. (Thanks to Redditor Ryuuken1789 for the tip!)
John Lackey’s Fastball – Despite allowing just 1 ER in 8 IP, Lackey was hit with the loss as he was outdueled by Drew Pomeranz and the Padres pen. Nevertheless, he did his part and got off to a good start by freezing Jon Jay with this luscious Fastball.
Danny Salazar’s Changeup – It was an effectively wild performance from Salazar who struck out five batters in the first two innings…despite filling up the bases in both frames. His Split-Change was devastating and relied on it to escape unharmed – just watch it fall off the table against Carlos Gomez in the third.
Noah Syndergaard’s Fastball – Thor did it all on Wednesday, knocking in all four of the Mets’ runs on a pair of dingers while allowing just two ER across eight innings. It was typical Syndergaard heat through the game, and he closed the sixth frame with 100 MPH on the black to Joc Pederson. (Thanks to Redditors bmd4567 and banana455 for the tip!)
Rick Porcello’s Slider – Sneaking pitches past hitters can be one of the more rewarding elements of pitching, and this Porcello Slider subtly found its way back to the front corner of the plate to send Marcus Semien back to the dugout.
Kyle Hendricks‘ Changeup – Hendricks is one of the better finesse pitchers around, rarely hinting at 90 MPH yet finding ways to deceive hitters and get through games. He features a fantastic Changeup that greatly fools batters and holds top notch drop, like this pitch to Brett Wallace.
Jeurys Familia’s Fastball – One of the more electric Fastballs in the game belongs to Familia, who gets a ton of sink and ride on his heater. He ended Wednesday night’s game with this 96 MPH pitch that travelled unbelievably far to sneak under Yasiel Puig’s bat.
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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