Chaz Roe’s Slider and the Nastiest Pitches From 4/13

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.

 

Chaz Roe’s Slider

 

https://gfycat.com/GiantGorgeousHoneyeater

 

We here in Pitcher List’s Nastiest Pitches Lab love Chaz Roe. His slider has some of the most profound movement of any pitch in the game and when it’s well placed, there aren’t many pitches that are nastier. This breaker to Teoscar Hernandez belongs in a museum. Chaz, please stay healthy and keep making baseballs look like wiffleballs.

 

Madison Bumgarner’s Curveball

 

https://gfycat.com/FrequentAdeptBuzzard

 

The Old Dog Madison Bumgarner uses an old trick to ring up his fellow starter Kyle Freeland. This pitcher-on-pitcher crime might have caught just a tad too much plate for MadBum to be comfortable with this one against a position player, but it got the job done against Freeland. Bumgarner has been off to a hot start in 2019, which is nice to see after an out-of-the-ordinary mediocre season last year.

 

Kyle Freeland’s Slider

 

https://gfycat.com/MiserablePresentDegus

 

MMMM. I just love borderline backdoor breakers, especially ones where a batter reacts like Evan Longoria does here. Kyle Freeland and the Colorado Rockies have gotten off to a rough start this year, but if he keeps placing sliders in that spot he has a chance to climb back to his impressive 2018 level.

 

Blake Snell’s Curveball

 

https://gfycat.com/DismalCreamyBellsnake

 

Blake Snell is so much fun to watch. He mixes high 90’s heat, a surprising changeup and devastating curves like this one into a pot… and out pop stellar outings like todays 6IP, 0ER, 1H, 1BB, 9K gem against the Jays. Snell has been on fire since his poor outing on Opening Day; in his last 3 starts he’s gone 19 IP, 1ER, 9H, 2BB, 33K. Smells like he’s cooking up another dominant year.

Rick Porcello’s Slider

 

https://gfycat.com/HoarseFarawayBee

 

The Boston Red Sox have been off to a well documented slow start to the 2019 season. Even with sharp sliders like this one, Rick Porcello wasn’t able to do his part today—he allowed 11 baserunners and 3 earned runs in 4 innings, leading to another Red Sox loss.

 

Reyes Moronta’s Changeup

 

https://gfycat.com/ReasonableBowedBarnowl

 

This was Reyes Moronta’s third straight changeup to Charlie Blackmon—all perfectly placed low and away. He and battery mate Buster Posey obviously had a game plan for this at bat; it’s always satisfying to watch a late-inning reliever go into an at bat with a purpose and execute flawlessly. This was an extremely impressive outing for the big man (he struck out the side). If he can continue to pitch like this, he could garner a hefty haul for the Giants at the deadline.

 

Justin Verlander’s Slider

 

https://gfycat.com/WeirdCapitalHarvestmouse

 

Well, here he is. Justin Verlander just keeps spinning it year after year. It was very hard to pick one pitch from this start, as he had everything going. Not much more to say than this is a perfectly placed pitch; you just gotta feel bad for Tim Beckham here.

 

BONUS: Chaz Roe’s Slider (take two)

 

https://gfycat.com/IlliterateBrownJoey

 

Yuck. Ew. This classic Chaz Roe slider caused Brandon Drury to shuffle right out of the box. Brandon, if you’re reading this, we don’t blame you. It’s not your fault. Unfortunately for Roe, this was called a ball (!!!), and the Rays took the loss north of the border.

 

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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