Patrick Corbin’s Slider and the Nastiest Pitches from 6/26

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 Second 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.

 

Patrick Corbin’s Slider

 

https://gfycat.com/floweryalarmingabyssiniancat

 

Patrick Corbin has had a bit of a rough go lately, sporting a 5.61 ERA over the past month, also walking an unusually high 3.7 per nine innings. However, a start against the Marlins is the universal cure-all, and Corbin delivered with nine strikeouts over seven innings, allowing just one earned run. Even more impressive than how good Corbin was though is how awful Yadiel Rivera has been this year: He took a .050 batting average into this outing, though to his credit, came out of it with a vastly improved .091 average.

 

Yu Darvish’s Changeup

 

https://gfycat.com/deliriousyearlydormouse

 

A seven-inning, 10-strikeout outing against the Dodgers gave Darvish owners hope. Hope that the 32-year-old was finally turning things around. Then he turned right around and allowed nine earned runs over 11 innings against the Mets on Friday and Braves on Wednesday. The strikeouts are at least still there, but man, Darvish has been bad. The elevated walk rate from last season that we assumed would positively regress has in fact gotten worse, with his 49 walks pacing the Senior Circuit. Not to be outdone though, his home run rate has been equally awful! His 18 home runs allowed in 17 starts also lead the NL. If you haven’t already, it’s time to cut bait. Owners can only take so many kicks to the particulars, and you deserve better than that.

 

Matthew Boyd’s Slider

 

https://gfycat.com/politicalpolishedbluebird

 

Matt Boyd continued his downward slide on Wednesday, notching his third straight start with four or more earned runs in a loss to the Rangers, though in all fairness, he did whiff 11 batters over seven innings of work. While his ERA has ballooned a bit in recent starts, fantasy owners will still gladly hang their hats on Boyd’s excellent 11.4 K/9 to go with a sharp 1.8 BB/9.

 

Zac Gallen’s Curveball

 

https://gfycat.com/hairythickfunnelweaverspider

 

Zac Gallen finally got his major league call-up last week after obliterating Triple-A (1.77 ERA, 11 K/9 over 14 starts), and thus far the results have been pretty positive. He’s struck out 14 over his first 10 innings and would have a 0.90 ERA if Wei-Yin Chen wasn’t an awful reliever. The Marlins have had pretty respectable pitching thus far this year, and Gallen should continue that, giving Marlins fans something, anything to be excited about.

 

Daniel Mengden’s Changeup

 

https://gfycat.com/untriedlastgecko

 

Daniel Mengden, the Athletics’ marvelously moustached fan-favourite, was great on Wednesday, hurling six shutout innings while striking out five. Mengden’s results have been up and down in the few outings he’s had this year, but overall, he should settle into a solid streaming role for fantasy owners.

 

Jake Odorizzi’s Splitter

 

https://gfycat.com/briefnaughtychameleon

 

Jake Odorizzi’s anomalous success this season has been well-documented, with his ERA sitting at an excellent 2.73, even after a trio of mediocre starts that doubled his season home run total. The Twins have been excellent, and Odorizzi has been a large reason for said success. Conversely, the Twins offense has also been excellent for Jake, fueling his 10 wins.

 

GIF of the Night

 

Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below, and the winner will be featured in the GIF of the Second Quarter Contest.

 

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