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 and check back this weekend to see if it will be in contention for the GIF of the First Half Contest. 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.
Yu Darvish’s Slider – Friday night’s matchup was spectacular in the Bronx as both Darvish and Tanaka performed at the top of their games. Darvish got the edge in the end, with help from his Slider that stands with the elite in the league. Just look at how badly Aaron Hicks misses this pitch. (Thanks to @ScazHero for the tip!)
Blake Treinen’s Fastball 1 – Taking a look at Treinens’ 99mph Fastball may make you question how he has a 5.67 ERA on the season. Consistency is everything is baseball, but fortunately we get to enjoy the little moments like this one, freezing Ian Happ with the pitch’s sweet ride to the inside corner.
Blake Treinen’s Fastball 2 – We already featured a Treinen Fastball, but we just couldn’t resist another as he unleashed another ridiculous pitch against Javy Baez. No pitch should have that much drop at 96mph.
Jose Berrios’ Curveball – Last night’s Twins/Red Sox game was an absolute treat for pitching fans as Berrios paired up against Chris Sale in a battle of elite breaking balls. We’ve made plenty of Berrios Curveball GIFs thus far, but with the Red Sox slow-motion camera by our side, we were able to get a great look at just how much break the pitch gets as it traveled from the inside corner to the opposite batter’s box to Xander Bogaerts. Wow. (Thanks to @MattOrsi25 for the tip!)
Luis Castillo’s Fastball – If you’ve been reading my daily SP Roundup articles, you’ll know just how enamored I am with this hard throwing rookie from Cincinnati. His command of his blistering Fastball is as seducing as you’ll find, with a great example coming in the sixth inning as he spotted the corner at 99mph to Keon Broxton. You’ll be seeing his name plenty over the years.
Marcus Stroman’s Slider – It was one of Stroman’s excellent evenings as he nearly made it through eight full frames against the Blue Jays. He was working his Slider well and it had some excellent bite to avoid Mark Trumbo’s bat in the fourth frame.
Corey Kluber’s Fastball – The Klubot is on such an incredible run right now and while his Slider gets all of the love, we can’t ignore the fantastic run he gets on his heater. Watch him stun Joey Gallo with the pitch to close the eighth inning yesterday.
Luis Severino’s Fastball – Severino was all kinds of filthy against the White Sox on Tuesday, racking up twelve strikeouts through seven impressive frames. Our favorite may have been with this Fastball that had a life of its own, fanning Matt Davidson as the ball seemingly rose up-and-in at a blistering 98mph.
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.
[polldaddy poll=9780737]
Gotta go with Blake #2 because that pitch has more movement than most guy’s changups.