There were some ridiculous pitches throughout the baseball season, and you’ve been voting every day for your favorite pitches. We held the Nastiest Pitching GIFs of the First Quarter, Second Quarter, Third Quarter and Fourth Quarter tournaments, now it’s time to crown season’s King of pitching GIFs with the Nastiest Pitching GIFs of 2018. Thirty-two pitches have a shot, but only one will win. (No ties, this isn’t soccer.)
Here are the rules:
- All GIFs were pulled from the quarterly GIF tournaments from the season.
- Votes will last until 12:00 a.m. EST the following morning, with the next round starting at 9:00 a.m. every morning and final round beginning on Friday morning.
Here are the results for Round #1:
American Bracket
Blake Treinen’s Fastball #1 defeated Blake Treinen’s Fastball #2
Blake Treinen’s Slider #1 defeated Blake Treinen’s Slider #2
Aroldis Chapman’s Fastball defeated Seth Lugo’s Fastball
Trevor Bauer’s Slider defeated Fernando Rodney’s Fastball
Adam Ottavino’s Slider #2 defeated Adam Ottavino’s Slider #1
Jordan Hicks‘ Fastball defeated Justin Verlander’s Curveball
David Robertson’s Curveball defeated Chris Archer’s Slider
Dylan Floro’s Fastball defeated Aaron Nola’s Fastball
National Bracket
Chris Sale’s Fastball defeated Steven Wright’s Knuckleball
Chris Sale’s Slider #1 defeated Chris Sale’s Slider #2
Dylan Maples’ Slider defeated Masahiro Tanaka’s Fastball
Jose Alvarado’s Fastball defeated Lance McCullers’ Fastball
Jose Berrios’ Curveball defeated Zach Britton’s Fastball
Miles Mikolas‘ Curveball defeated Jakob Junis‘ Slider
Chaz Roe’s Slider #1 defeated Chaz Roe’s Slider #2
Noah Syndergaard’s Fastball #2 defeated Noah Syndergaard’s Fastball #1
Here are the matchups for Round #2:
American Bracket
Blake Treinen’s Fastball #1 vs. Blake Treinen’s Slider #1
Aroldis Chapman’s Fastball vs. Trevor Bauer’s Slider
Adam Ottavino’s Slider #2 vs. Jordan Hicks‘ Fastball
David Robertson’s Curveball vs. Dylan Floro’s Fastball
National Bracket
Chris Sale’s Fastball vs. Chris Sale’s Slider #1
Dylan Maples’ Slider vs. Jose Alvarado’s Fastball
Jose Berrios’ Curveball vs. Miles Mikolas‘ Curveball
Chaz Roe’s Slider #1 vs. Noah Syndergaard’s Fastball #2
Watch The GIFs In The Links Below!
Well, there’s one thing that’s guaranteed from this matchup: Blake Treinen will win. Yeah, he’ll lose, too, but once you win in the postseason—which is essentially what this tournament is—you’ll always be a winner. So there’s really no way Treinen can lose! Couldn’t necessarily say the same for Chase d’Arnaud and Mitch Moreland, who were on the wrong end of Treinen’s fastball and slider, respectively. Though, Moreland helped the Red Sox win the World Series, so he can’t be a loser. So that means d’Arnaud’s the real loser in this round, making way for Treinen to advance.
Blake Treinen’s Fastball #1 vs. Blake Treinen’s Slider #1
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Which was the better pitch? Vote to decide which pitch advances to the next round!
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If these two start on opposite sides of the bracket they could easily wind up in the finals. Sadly, Aroldis Chapman and Trevor Bauer had to square off in the Swee 16. Now, do yourself a favor and watch this Chapman fastball five times in-a-row. Now answer this: does that fastball rise? Then look at Bauer’s slider. No, that’s a real pitch from a real MLB game. There was no doctoring of the tape. Pitcher List has a great graphics team, but the only person who’s reached out about creating pitches with CGI is that same imbecile who did “removed” Henry Cavill’s mustache for the Justice League re-shoots.
Aroldis Chapman’s Fastball vs. Trevor Bauer’s Slider
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Which was the better pitch? Vote to decide which pitch advances to the next round!
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After looking at Adam Ottavino’s slider and Jordan Hicks‘ fastball one thing has become clear: if you flip-flopped Michael A. Taylor and Ozzie Albeis in these GIFs, neither guy is getting a hit on these two pitches. And it’s moments like these that remind us all of the most puzzling question surrounding baseball: why would anyone ever want to be a hitter? You’d be lucky to succeed 1 out of 20 times against these pitches, nevermind 3 for 10.
Adam Ottavino’s Slider #2 vs. Jordan Hicks‘ Fastball
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Which was the better pitch? Vote to decide which pitch advances to the next round!
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David Robertson’s curveball and Dylan Floro’s fastball are some of the sharper pitches in the entire tournament. As a viewer, it’s so hard to pick up on either one. Imagine trying to put one in play. One second you’re loading to drive a mistake pitch into the stands. The next, you’re questioning every decision you’ve ever made, wondering where you went wrong in life.
David Robertson’s Curveball vs. Dylan Floro’s Fastball
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Which was the better pitch? Vote to decide which pitch advances to the next round!
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This is a tough one. On the one hand, you have Chris Sale dotting up 100 MPH, back when he was dominating everyone and their cousin in the middle of the 2018 season. On the other, you got Chris Sale striking out the scrappiest, no-stone-left-unturned-iest player in all of Major League Baseball, Manny Machado, to clinch the World Series. Take out the implications of the latter pitch and it’s nearly impossible to pick between these two.
Chris Sale’s Fastball vs. Chris Sale’s Slider #1
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Which was the better pitch? Vote to decide which pitch advances to the next round!
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Does this Dylan Maples slider technically fall under the umbrella of “cruel and unusual punishment” under the U.S. Constitution? Maybe. Did anyone do anything about it? Doesn’t look like it. And do you want to mess with someone who’s capable of doing that with a baseball? Maples’ slider-piece goes against a Jose Alvarado fastball that’s straight out of Backyard Baseball. Actually, that’s poor phrasing, given there’s nothing about this pitch that’s straight. So now you have to choose between an illegal pitch (but not actually) and one that should be on a video game, with a zing sound-effect accompanying it.
Dylan Maples’ Slider vs. Jose Alvarado’s Fastball
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Which was the better pitch? Vote to decide which pitch advances to the next round!
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This one, maybe more than any matchup in the Sweet 16, comes down to preference. Both Jose Berrios and Mile Mikolas chucked some sick-nasty curves in these GIF. Berrios’ has depth, but some substantial sweep to it. Mikolas’ is pure 12-6. No amount of flowery text or hyperbole can impact this one, it all comes down to what you look for in a curve most. (Or who looks dumber, Neil Walker or Chase Headley.)
Jose Berrios’ Curveball vs. Miles Mikolas‘ Curveball
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Which was the better pitch? Vote to decide which pitch advances to the next round!
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As much as this Chaz Roe slider looks great on its own, Xander Bogaerts really makes this GIF. When I see that hop I instantly think of “two hops this time!” from the Cha Cha Slide—which is the worst song ever. But then that’s going against Yangervis Solarte’s best impression of a dreidel (Happy Holidays!) against some ched from Noah Syndergaard. Ched with some run that is. (Which in any other setting is a recipe for disaster.)
Chaz Roe’s Slider #1 vs. Noah Syndergaard’s Fastball #2
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Which was the better pitch? Vote to decide which pitch advances to the next round!
[polldaddy poll=10193640]