Every morning, we review the nastiest pitches from the previous day’s games in glorious high-definition GIFs. Don’t forget to vote for your favorite pitch and check back this weekend to see if it will be in contention for the September Nastiest Pitches GIF Tournament. Did we miss your favorite pitch? Send us a tweet next time @PitcherList, and we’ll GIF it up and give you a shoutout here in the article.
Trevor Bauer’s Two-Seamer
https://gfycat.com/HighlevelDependentGoldfish
For fantasy owners fuming over Trevor Bauer’s abysmal transition to the NL, yesterday was a sort of olive branch from the struggling Red. For many, Bauer carried their fantasy teams to last-day playoff victories, so today, we’re going to bookend Nastiest Pitches with two nasty offerings courtesy of Bauer. The first is this two-seamer that runs across and out of the zone to get Ildemaro Vargas chasing at strike three on pitch 104!
Jesus Luzardo’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/VibrantVioletCardinal
After a solid first career outing last week against the fearsome Houston Astros, Jesus Luzardo faced another division rival from Texas and notched his first career save against the Rangers. Luzardo showcased his blistering fastball as well as his filthy slider, the latter of which got 5/15 swinging strikes, a phenomenal rate for any pitcher, let alone an inexperienced one such as Luzardo, who got Roughned Odor reaching far out of the zone on this pitch.
T.J. Zeuch’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/GrandioseAngryGrizzlybear
Continuing the theme of career firsts, T.J. Zeuch picked up career win No. 1 last night against a tough Yankees lineup that never fails to put up a fight. Zeuch pitched 5.1 innings and only surrendered two earned runs to the soon-to-be AL East champs, striking out five of them along the way. Here, he used his wicked sinker on this delivery to induce a strike three whiff from shortstop Didi Gregorious.
Ken Giles‘ Fastball
https://gfycat.com/SnoopyNarrowGosling
Staying in Toronto, Ken Giles closed the door on New York yesterday and notched save No. 20 on the season. Giles has been fantastic, sporting a 14.25 K/9 and a 1.88 ERA on the season. Usually his slider is his strongest pitch, but here we’re featuring this 97 mph fastball with which Giles paints the corner to end the game.
Raisel Iglesias‘ Changeup
https://gfycat.com/RichPepperyHaddock
Raisel Iglesias put the finishing touches on a win against the Diamondbacks yesterday to cap off a wonderful day of pitching for the Reds. Iglesias’ changeup was his main weapon in the ninth inning yesterday, as he threw the pitch five times (more than any other pitch in his arsenal) and collected four CSW on the pitch, including the final one of the game, a nasty changeup that makes Josh Rojas flail at the plate.
Trevor Bauer’s Knuckle-Curve
https://gfycat.com/DirtyHelpfulIcterinewarbler
As I promised above, we’re giving Bauer two shoutouts today because his outing was more deserving of it than any other pitcher yesterday. To finish off this Monday morning, we’ve got Bauer’s knuckle-curve, an absolutely devastating offering that just drops below the bat of Diamondbacks slugger Christian Walker for a swinging strike three.
GIF of the Night
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below, and the winner will be featured in the September Nastiest Pitches GIF Tournament.
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