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! Treinen had two chances this week to win the crown with his hard firing two seamer and earned himself a spot in the GIF tournament.
Rich Hill’s Curveball – Hill broke out this weekend with a performance reminiscent of his sterling 2016 season. This back-foot Curveball has the parabola like feel of a Clayton Kershaw Curveball with more side to side movement. Jose Pirela had no chance.
Jake Arrieta’s Fastball – Arrieta’s Fastball may be my favorite pitch to GIF in the game. With a good camera angle it’s eye opening to see the movement he gets on his Fastball. I don’t know if I I’ve ever seen Joey Votto flinch on any pitch, let alone a Fastball. (Thanks to @jakelauer for the tip!)
Chris Devenski’s Changeup – Devenski doesn’t get as much fanfare as he deserves because he pitches in the fireman role in the middle of games, but he’s one of the best relievers in baseball right now. This Changeup to Aaron Judge drops like a stone to strikeout big Aaron Judge.
Jacob Faria’s At-Bat – Nasty pitches are fun to GIF, but sequencing can be as important or more than the break of a pitch. Here Faria starts with a Changeup then changes speeds with Fastballs on either side of the zone right on the black. Mark Trumbo loves his Fastballs, but the sequencing here keeps him off balance and guessing wrong.
Chris Sale’s Slider – Sale’s back-foot Slider is the more famous pitch here in the Roundup, but I’m partial to his back-door Slider. Hitters like Justin Smoak may be looking for the inside Fastball or the back-foot Slider, and then give up on the pitch before it breaks into the zone. Impressive.
Michael Wacha’s Cutter – Wacha had a season high 9 Ks on Saturday using command and change of speeds to fool hitters. This Cutter to Ryan Zimmerman has just enough movement to get back the inside corner and force the umpire’s hand for a called strike. A borderline pitch, but too close to take for Zimm.
Gio Gonzalez’s Curveball – Gonzalez might be in line for a market correction as his FIP is more than a full run higher than his ERA, but for now fantasy owners will enjoy how effective Gonzalez has been behind Max Scherzer in Washington. This Curveball to Michael Wacha has a fun almost corkscrew like feel to it as he swings over the top.
Kevin Gausman’s Fastball – I bought low on Gausman this year in fantasy hoping he could turn things around and pitch like he did yesterday. Gausman used his Changeup and better command of his 98 MPH Fastball to get 9 Ks while giving up no runs yesterday against the Rays. This Fastball is right on the corner to freeze Peter Bourjos to end the inning. Perfect placement.
GIF Of The Weekend
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below and the winner will be featured in the GIF of the Week Contest.
[polldaddy poll=9781227]
God I want Gausman to be good =(