Every week we review the nastiest pitches from the previous week in glorious HD GIFs. Don’t forget to vote for your favorite pitch and check back Saturday to see if it will be in contention for the GIF of the First Half Contest. Week 5’s winner was Aroldis Chapman’s Fastball.
Did we miss your favorite pitch? Send us a tweet next time @PitcherList and we’ll GIF it up + give you a shoutout here in the article.
After last week’s bevy of Fastballs, this week it’s nice to see a more breaking ball dominant array of pitches. Is Mike Mikolas’ nose to toes bender the best of the week? Maybe Luis Severino’s sick back-foot Slider? Or maybe the patented front door Two-Seamer of Bartolo Colon is your favorite. Pick one and check back next Saturday to see which pitch carried the week.
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Miles Mikolas‘ Curveball – Mikolas was solid again on Thursday, giving up one run in 6 1/3 innings of work. His 12-6 curve has continued to baffle opponents this season, and Chase Headley was the latest victim.
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Julio Teheran’s Curveball – Carlos Gomez couldn’t have been more tangled up on this brutal 68 MPH curveball. Nice movement on both planes and right after an 88 MPH fastball.
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Luis Severino’s Slider – Severino’s slider is harder than a lot of pitchers’ fastball. But instead of staying straight, Sevvy’s bender dives down and in at the last possible moment, making it a nearly impossible pitch to hit. His slider generated six swinging strikes on the day, and poor Rafael Devers nearly pulled a muscle trying to make contact with this pitch – to no avail.
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Stephen Strasburg’s Curveball – Eric Hosmer was massively tangled up on this untouchable Strasburg curve with his usual filthy movement.
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Max Scherzer’s Fastball – Scherzer dropped an outlandish 15 strikeouts on the Phillies in just 6.1 innings, inducing 24 swings and misses. Fourteen of those came on his fastball—as seen in the form of this rising, riding vortex on which Jorge Alfaro had no chance.
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Trevor Bauer’s Slider – Bauer’s slider has been nearly unhittable this season, with opponents hitting .081 and posting a 40.9% o-swing rate. This pitch was placed perfectly.
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Bartolo Colon’s Fastball – Colon featured movement like this all night, but on no other offering did he dumbfound a batter quite like he did Boston’s Jackie Bradley Jr. JBJ appears as though he’s bracing for impact then stares downward at the ball as it somehow transported into the catcher’s glove. Spooky action.
GIF Of The Week
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below and the winner will be featured in the GIF of the First Half Contest.
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