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 GIF of the First Quarter Contest. 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.
Adam Wainwright’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/responsibledangeroushorse
After all these years, Adam Wainwright still has it. Here he freezes one of the best young hitters in baseball with an 88 mph sinker that tags the bottom right of the strike zone.
Luis Castillo’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/feistyillegalantipodesgreenparakeet
Luis Castillo has great movement on his fastballs, but he can also make his offspeed pitches dance as well. This 88 mph change had a spin rate of 1917 with 18-inch horizontal and 38.4-inch vertical (with gravity) break.
Jordan Lyles‘ Curveball
https://gfycat.com/sinfulopendevilfish
Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Jordan Lyles gets such great break on his curve that I included the slow-motion replay. This 80 mph pitch with a 2678 rpm just falls straight to the bottom of the zone so quickly that the hitter had no shot to make contact.
Trevor Bauer’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/pastcircularimperialeagle
The matter-of-fact walk-off always gets me. Whenever Trevor Bauer takes the mound, you’ll have a cornucopia of pitches from which to choose. His slider was so filthy last night that I could have picked any of them. This example might have been the best. It appears to skid out of the zone like a car on a wet highway.
Kirby Yates‘ Splitter
https://gfycat.com/agedheavyguppy
Kirby Yates has two pitches, but he could probably get away with using only one: his splitter. Yates’ fastball offshoot glides in the zone, and without warning, the bottom drops out. Just ask Tyler Flowers.
Shane Greene’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/indelibleshamefulgraysquirrel
Shane Greene is quietly one of the better relief pitchers in baseball. His 81 mph slider induced a heavy whiff from Philadelphia Phillies infielder Maikel Franco, thanks to its 15.6 inches of horizontal break with a 39-inch vertical (with gravity) break.
BONUS PITCH
CC Sabathia’s 3000th Strikeout
https://gfycat.com/rewardingmaturehermitcrab
Way back in 2001, I’m not sure CC Sabathia could have imagined that nearly 18 years later he’d be throwing an 84 mph slider for his 3000th strikeout. Congrats ‘Dub’!
GIF of the Night
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below, and the winner will be featured in the GIF of the First Quarter Contest.
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