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 Second Half Contest, which will be live this All-Star week. 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.
Jose Berrios’ Curveball – We don’t like featuring multiple pitches from the same arm in a given day, but this Berrios Curveball was just too filthy to deny. It never stops bending off the plate, forcing a committed Jose Abreu to offer with a weak hack on a pitch feet off the plate.
Jose Berrios’ Fastball – Berrios’ final line wasn’t too appealing, but he fanned nine White Sox batters in just over five frames. Both his Fastball and Curveball were as lively as ever, with this front-door Fastball making us giddy. Its movement at a blistering 96mph is crazy good.
Mike Montgomery’s Curveball – Taking the place of Jon Lester in the rotation, Monty pitched a Quality Start against the Reds Wednesday evening. He even made Joey Votto look foolish in the box as he tossed this beautiful front-door Curveball in the sixth.
Zach Davies‘ Fastball – Davies hasn’t had the smoothest 2017 season, but he’s shown improvements over the last month. He got off to a great start in Monday night’s affair by striking out his first batter with a beautiful front-door Fastball that stunned Denard Span.
Stephen Strasburg’s Curveball – It was Strasburg’s second start after returning from the DL and he showed us why we missed him so much as he broke Jose Altuve’s back with a gorgeous Curveball. This went from Altuve’s head to the outside corner of the plate. Think about that.
Carl Edward’s Curveball – Edwards is a great reliever in a great bullpen, which is necessary for the Cubs in the the playoffs in this season of super bullpens. This Curveball to Jose Bautista has ridiculous drop to get Edwards out of a jam.
Zack Godley’s Fastball – If there’s one thing you should know about Godley, it’s how much movement his Fastball gets. Watch the pitch zoom from the outside corner off the plenty in a blink of an eye to Asdrubal Cabrera, with the perfect slow-motion shot to show its absurd late bite.
Corey Knebel’s Curveball – Knebel threw three hard breaking Curveballs to Buster Posey, and this last one to end the game is a beauty. Knebel’s Curveball has a huge hump in it, and is a big reason he’s broken out in 2017 as a upper echelon closer. (Thanks to @TheJKayKid for the tip!)
GIF Of The Week
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below and the winner will be featured in the GIF of the Second Half Contest.
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