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.
Shane Bieber’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/RichSadIsabellineshrike
Good morning! Game of Thrones has ended, which means we can now completely dedicate our Monday mornings to talking about baseball again! So let’s start this morning with yesterday’s best performance, a complete-game shutout from Shane Bieber. Nine innings, zero runs, and 15 strikeouts! His final line couldn’t have been prettier, and this slider that got Dwight Smith Jr. in the sixth inning couldn’t have been nastier.
Sandy Alcantara’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/PlayfulBrokenAgouti
Speaking of complete-game shutouts, Sandy Alcantara only needed 89 pitches to get his first career CGSO yesterday to complete the Marlins’ sweep of the slumping New York Mets. This guy was on fire yesterday, and he was able to rack up eight strikeouts, including one with this heater that flew right by Juan Lagares.
Jordan Hicks‘ Fastball
https://gfycat.com/AnnualScornfulAdder
103 mph heat? That crazy movement? This pitch is truly unhittable. What else can Joey Gallo do but stand and watch as Jordan Hicks absolutely grooves one right past him for strike three. Dang, that pitch is disgusting.
Jose Leclerc’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/AdmirableSpecificArgali
After a fantastic 2018 campaign, Jose Leclerc lost his rhythm early this season. However, it seems that he’s finally found his old self on the mound as he put up a two-inning, five-strikeout performance yesterday against the Cardinals. Leclerc had his entire arsenal working for him, but no pitch was filthier than this slider that froze Jose Martinez at the plate.
Tanner Roark’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/TightBlushingJenny
Tanner Roark might have not come out on top in this matchup against Hyun-Jin Ryu, but he certainly held his own, striking out seven over five innings, including a filthy curveball that dropped just inside the strike zone to punch out Russell Martin.
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.
[polldaddy poll=10323180]
Hey, long time Pitcher list reader (awesome how you guys are growing!!), but over the last few weeks, particularly on these nastiest pitch write-ups, the gifs have not been working for me. They all “stutter*, like they’re glitchy or jumpy. I’m wondering if others are having this issue. This is happening on both data and wifi and does not appear to be a loading or caching issue (but I’m no expert). I also see it when I navigate to the gfycat website. Also, I have noticed it both on my phone (Pixel 3) and laptop (Lenovo X1), so I don’t think it’s a hardware issue. Hope this helps!