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 Nastiest Pitches of the Season GIF Tournament. 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.
Stephen Strasburg’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/DefensiveLividInganue
Last night, Stephen Strasburg pitched the most important game of his life. Facing elimination, the former number one overall pick gave us an amazing performance, as he nearly went the distance before being pulled in the bottom of the ninth. There were plenty of nasty offerings in Strasburg’s pivotal Game 6 performance, but none topped this absurd back foot changeup that ran in Robinson Chirinos.
Justin Verlander’s Fastball
https://gfycat.com/BlackEnchantedChihuahua
Now onto Justin Verlander, who did not have the night he was hoping for. JV pitched five innings and allowed three runs, with two coming on the long ball. If Verlander delivered last night, perhaps we wouldn’t be watching baseball today, but that’s how things work themselves out sometimes. Verlander still managed three strikeouts, which included this blazing fastball that Houston’s ace forces past Victor Robles.
Ryan Pressly’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/UnfortunateShyHousefly
After struggling earlier this postseason, Ryan Pressly began to find his groove on Sunday night. Last night, he pitched just as well, throwing a clean top of the eighth. He struck out two using his lethal fastball-curveball combo. Here, Pressly buries the latter of the two in the dirt, and got Asdrubal Cabrera swinging at a ball way out of the zone for strike three
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Brad Peacock’s Two-Seamer
https://gfycat.com/GrimTiredAsiaticgreaterfreshwaterclam
Brad Peacock entered to relieve in the sixth inning, but by that time the Astros were already trailing by one run, and they wouldn’t recover from that deficit. Peacock threw 1.1 innings and struck out two, both on fantastic two-seamers. Although one of the two was a blown call (the pitch was an inch or two off the plate), Peacock slid this beauty over the bottom edge of the zone for strike three.
GIF of the Night
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below, and the winner will be featured in the Nastiest Pitches of the Season GIF Tournament.
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