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. 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.
Miguel Diaz’s Fastball – It was the first career strikeout for the flamethrower reliever, but we’re sure to see plenty more as this pitch came in at 98mph with some serious life to nip the inside corner. Joc Pederson was stunned and so were we.
Chris Sale’s Slider – Those that were worried about Sale heading to Fenway park may have had their fears quelled after last night’s impressive performance. I personally am excited about the change of scenery as the flexible southpaw now has one of the best camera angles for left-handers in the MLB, allowing us to get excellent views of this deadly Slider like in the GIF above.
Carlos Martinez’s Fastball/Changeups – CarMart established his dominance as the Cardinals ace while he shut down the mighty Cubs offense on Sunday evening. He struck out the side in the second inning with a 100mph heater and a pair of Changeups that make you wonder how on earth batters are expected to get on base against him.
Blake Treinen’s Slider – Now that Dusty Baker announced Treinen as his closer, I expect plenty more GIFs to be made of Treinen as his stuff is so pretty to watch. Check out this 3-2 Slider to Justin Bour that had a massive amount of vertical movement at 90mph to avoid the slugger’s bat by a foot. (Thanks to @andrew_vargha for the tip!)
Aroldis Chapman’s Slider – Chapman is the highest paid closer in the game for a reason, and got some good work in last night in a non-save situation. Here he uses a 90MPH slider to finish off Brad Miller on an 0-2 pitch that starts on the outside corner and breaks laughably far away from the zone.
Koda Glover’s Fastball – Glover, a rookie, is reportedly being fast tracked for the Nationals closer job because of his undeniable combination of velocity and movement. This pitch shows ridiculous run at 95 MPH to get Dee Gordon to whiff. (Thanks to Redditor efitz11 for the tip!)
Dylan Bundy’s Slider – We’ve been waiting through the spring to see Bundy’s new pitch in action, and while its previous Cutter label was misguided, the end product is just what we were looking for. He turned to the pitch early and often, here getting slugger Josh Donaldson to lose his bat chasing the pitch for the second out of the game.
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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That Diaz fastball makes it move for me. Sweet Jesus.
And to think, he was a rule 5 pick from the Brewers.. who had never had the guy above Single-A? What were they thinking?!