It’s been another exciting week of baseball with many excellent pitches from around the league. You’ve been voting all week, now the top pitches battle for the crown of “Pitching GIF of the Week”. Who will win? 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.
Corey Kluber’s Curveball – His Slider gets most of the attention, but Kluber’s hook is a filthy pitch on its own. Watch it get a big whiff from Aaron Hicks Wednesday night in the third for the punchout.
Marcus Stroman’s Fastball – It’s great to see Stroman back in the bigs, and he’s been impressive since returning to the hill. His Fastball has some incredible movement, which he exhibited on this pitch to Jackie Bradley Jr. Friday night. (Thanks to Reddit user tomstoms for the tip!)
Clayton Kershaw’s Curveball – There were some words exchanged with Mattingly after Kershaw was pulled after just five innings and 80 pitches, but the reigning MVP still fanned nine batters in his limited time on the field, including opposing pitcher Patrick Corbin with his signature hook.
Ivan Nova’s Fastball – The young Yankee starter also threw this nasty 94 MPH to Justin Smoak and we couldn’t justify leaving it off the list. Excellent movement back to the plate that freezes the Blue Jays’ first baseman for the backwards K. (Thanks to @ericdavidmorris and @bez424 for the tip!)
Jake Arrieta’s Slider – We could have selected dozens of pitches from Arrieta’s dazzling CGSHO yesterday, but this Slider to Shane Peterson was absurd. Somehow it starts on the plate then darts well into Peterson’s hip at 90 MPH to induce the strikeout on a full count. So good that it reminded us of a Curveball from Kerry Wood’s 20 strikeout performance. (Thanks to Reddit user Gyro88 for the tip!)
Brett Cecil’s Curveball – It was a tight spot for the Blue Jays’ reliever, but he struck out three straight Yankee batters to now total 27 consecutive innings without an ER to his name. He ended the frame with this fantastic hook to Brian McCann and couldn’t help but show some emotion.
Mike Fiers‘ Curveball – It’s no secret Fiers has one of the biggest hooks in the majors, and he flexed it over the weekend against the Athletics. Here he froze Brett Lawrie with this huge Curveball for strike three.
GIF Of The Week
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below to crown the winner!
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