Mike Soroka’s Changeup and the Nastiest Pitches from 4/29

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.

 

Mike Soroka’s Changeup

 

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Mike Soroka came to play in his third start of the season, striking out eight over six innings of one run ball. We at Pitcher List have been blowing Soroka’s horn for a quite a while, and disgusting offspeed stuff this is a huge reason why. Soroka’s a budding star and we should see plenty of him in these roundups going forward.

Diego Castillo’s  Slider

 

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Another day, another Rays pitcher throwing filth. This time it’s Diego Castillo, baffling the red hot Alex Gordon with a nasty slider, loads of bite with a 10 MPH disparity between it and his heater. The Rays bullpen may lack consistency right now, but once it gets clicking, it’s going to be unstoppable.

 

Jordan Hicks‘ Sinker

 

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Honestly, I could probably just write “100 MPH with sink” here and it would be totally adequate. But I thought some context would be nice. Not only does his sinker AVERAGE 100 MPH on the season, but his fastball averages a whopping 102 MPH. How many pitchers EVER can boast two offerings that average triple digits? None (At least as far as I know, let me know if I’m somehow wrong).

 

Taylor Rogers‘ Slider

 

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It’s no easy feat to make Jose Altuve look like he’s just flailing away up there, but Taylor Rogers manages it with a devastating backfoot slider, one that’s been an absolute weapon for him thus far in a 2.13 ERA campaign.

 

Alex Colome’s Cutter

 

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To be fair, this pitch is probably made a little nastier looking by the fact that Jonathan Villar is seemingly trying to hit the ball to Osceola County, but it’s a nice pitch in its’ own right as well. A gorgeous late drop on this one makes Villar look even more foolish than his own hitting approach of swinging at anything that moves often does.

 

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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