This July was a big one for pitchers. Marcus Stroman became a Met, Trevor Bauer perfected the art of long tossing before being traded, and other pitchers are starting to come to full form. Most importantly, some absurd GIFs emerged in July. So ridiculous that the list of honorable mentions from this month probably would have made most other tournaments in the past. Now it’s time to crown the best pitching GIF of them all from July 2019.
The best 16 have been pulled aside and ranked. Yesterday, the field was whittled down to eight. Now it’s on you, the voter, to decide which stands above the rest.
Here are the rules:
- All GIFs were pulled from July 2019 (including the All-Star Game).
- You can only vote on a matchup once, so make sure you pick the one you absolutely want.
- Voting will continue until 12:00 a.m. EST the following morning. This is the second round.
Here are the results from Round 1:
American Bracket
1. Oliver Drake’s Splitter defeated 8. Jose Alvarado’s Cutter
2. Jose Berrios’ Curveball defeated 7. Mike Clevinger’s Curveball
3. Adam Ottavino’s Slider defeated 6. Yonny Chirinos‘ Two-Seamer
5. Gerrit Cole’s Fastball defeated 4. Stephen Strasburg’s Fastball
National Bracket
8. Chaz Roe’s Slider 2 defeated 1. Chaz Roe’s Slider 1
2. Walker Buehler’s Two-Seamer defeated 7. Clayton Kershaw’s Curveball
3. Josh Hader’s Slider defeated 6. Kyle Crick’s Slider
4. Charlie Morton’s Curveball defeated 5. Mike Soroka’s Two-Seamer
And here are the matchups for Round 2:
American Bracket
1. Oliver Drake’s Splitter vs. 5. Gerrit Cole’s Fastball
2. Jose Berrios’ Curveball vs. 3. Adam Ottavino’s Slider
National Bracket
4. Charlie Morton’s Curveball vs. 8. Chaz Roe’s Slider 2
2. Walker Buehler’s Two-Seamer vs. 3. Josh Hader’s Slider
Watch the GIFs in the Links Below!
Featured Image by Justin Paradis (@freshmeatcomm on Twitter)
Oliver Drake’s Splitter vs. Gerrit Cole’s Fastball
No surprises here. Our No. 1 seed in the tournament utterly destroyed Jose Alvarado, and for good reason. Oliver Drake’s wild pitch has become synonymous with nastiness, and the Rays continue to top the bracket in filthy offerings. Gerrit Cole might be the one to beat him though. The fastball was 99 mph on the edge of the zone and was an absolute laser, but the question remains: Is it enough to take down a pitch that won 90%+ of the vote in Round 1?
https://gfycat.com/naturalgreathorsemouse-baseball
VS.
https://gfycat.com/wideacclaimedindigowingedparrot-gerrit-cole-ff-7-22-19-baseball
Which was the better pitch? Vote to decide which pitch advances to the next round!
[polldaddy poll=10380457]
Jose Berrios’ Curveball vs. Adam Ottavino’s Slider
Both Jose Berrios and Adam Ottavino cruised through Round 1 with ease, beating their respective opponents with at least 60% of the vote. These pitches might be ranked Nos. 2 and 3, but to call one of them a clear favorite isn’t so easy. Both pitches have their own merits, and to sort out which one will come out on top might come down to just a few votes. Suffice to say, I’ll be watching this one closely.
https://gfycat.com/linedminiatureappaloosa-jose-berrios-cu-7-9-19-baseball
VS.
https://gfycat.com/likelymealyjunco-adam-ottavino-sl-7-21-19
Which was the better pitch? Vote to decide which pitch advances to the next round!
[polldaddy poll=10380470]
Charlie Morton’s Curveball vs. Chaz Roe’s Slider 2
So yes, it seems like I was in the minority as to which of the Roe pitches was more disgusting, and I will take the blame for that one. But as I said yesterday, in any other formats, these both would’ve been 1 or 2 seeds. So don’t view the undisputed King of Nastiness Chaz Roe as an underdog. On the other hand, his teammate Charlie Morton has an uphill battle, but luckily, to counteract Roe’s front door slider, Morton goes with a devastating back-door curveball. So who knows? Maybe Charlie will come out on top in this one.
https://gfycat.com/massiveagreeableinchworm-baseball
VS.
https://gfycat.com/farawayimpassionediberianemeraldlizard-baseball
Which was the better pitch? Vote to decide which pitch advances to the next round!
[polldaddy poll=10380471]
Walker Buehler’s Two-Seamer vs. Josh Hader’s Slider
Our final matchup contains our closest Round 1 winner by far. As the clock closed in on midnight Josh Hader won by a single vote against Kyle Crick. Hader’s slider gets absolutely wicked movement as it breaks from outside the zone to the back foot of Yasiel Puig. But our 2 seed is going to be tough to beat. Walker Buehler killed Rhys Hoskins‘ pride on a pitch that was so disgusting Rhys had to stick his head in the dirt to save himself from the embarrassment of this whiff.
https://gfycat.com/immaculatedensegosling-walker-uehler-ft-7-16-19
VS.
https://gfycat.com/edibleuniqueagouti-baseball
Which was the better pitch? Vote to decide which pitch advances to the next round!
[polldaddy poll=10380473]