The Nastiest 16 Pitches GIFs of July 2019—Semifinals

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. On Tuesday, the field was whittled down to eight. Yesterday, that number was halved, and now we’ve got four. 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 semifinal 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 results from Round 2:

 

American Bracket

 

1. Oliver Drake’s Splitter defeated 5. Gerrit Cole’s Fastball
 3. Adam Ottavino’s Slider defeated 2. Jose Berrios’ Curveball

 

National Bracket

 

 8. Chaz Roe’s Slider 2 defeated 4. Charlie Morton’s Curveball 
2. Walker Buehler’s Two-Seamer defeated 3. Josh Hader’s Slider

And here are the semi-final matchups:

American Bracket

 

1. Oliver Drake’s Splitter vs. 3. Adam Ottavino’s Slider

 

National Bracket

 

2. Walker Buehler’s Two-Seamer vs. 8. Chaz Roe’s Slider 2

 

Watch the GIFs in the Links Below!

Featured image by Justin Paradis (@freshmeatcomm on Twitter)

 

Oliver Drake’s Splitter vs. Adam Ottavino’s Slider

 

Was there any doubt when this tournament began that Oliver Drake was a force to be reckoned with? I don’t think so. He’s easily captured 80% of the vote in both Rounds 1 and 2 thanks to his funky delivery that makes his splitter look, for lack of a better term, impossible. So I wouldn’t be shocked if he does the same today against Adam Ottavino and his slider. In another matchup, Ottavino might have had a chance, but if the past few days have been any indication, it looks like this may be the end of the road for Ottavino. Then again, maybe he pulls off the upset and unseats an absolutely absurd No. 1 seed.

 

 

VS.

 

 

Which was the better pitch? Vote to decide which pitch advances to the next round!

 

[polldaddy poll=10381240]

Walker Buehler’s Two-Seamer vs. Chaz Roe’s Slider 2

 

How much more can we say about Chaz Roe? The dude is basically the Mike Trout of nasty pitches. This absurd front-door slider that freezes and then forces Gary Sanchez to back step out of the batters box is an absolute stunner that leaves jaws dropped (at least mine). As for Walker Buehler, this wicked two-seamer looks crazier each day I look at it. Listen, if it was Starlin Castro in the box here, it wouldn’t be as shocking, but Buehler manages to execute this pitch against Rhys Hoskins, a guy with a 133 wRC+! It may be the nicest two-seamer we see all year, so maybe it can be the pitch that finally takes down Roe.

 

 

VS.

 

 

Which was the better pitch? Vote to decide which pitch advances to the next round!

 

[polldaddy poll=10381241]