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 Third 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.
Clayton Kershaw’s Curve
https://gfycat.com/frayedimmaterialdogfish
Kershaw was doing Kershaw things yesterday, shutting the Nationals down after two in the first. He still has his 6+ innings streak going (gone six or more innings in every game this year), and has looked extremely sharp all year. As long as he doesn’t get injured (bangs on everything wooden in my apartment), I’d say we can count on Kersh to, well, be Kersh.
Michel Baez’s Change
https://gfycat.com/milkyweepygermanspitz
Baez has been absolutely fantastic since being called up by the Padres—between him, Andres Munoz, and Kirby Yates, they are shaping up to be quite the back-end. This change is just unfair. The tumbling action is severe and immediate, but it was started so well that it crosses a lot of the plate before it dives under bat.
Gerrit Cole’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/harddeadlyayeaye
The Cole train just keeps rolling right along. He has been absolutely stellar since June 19th, having started only one game in which he gave up more than one run since then. The development of this slider has been a big piece to that. It comes in close to 90 mph and he’s shown to have pretty damn good control with it. Add that to the rest of his nasty repertoire and you’ve got a perennial Cy Young contender.
Mike Clevinger’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/milkymelodicchipmunk
Clevinger has been phenomenal recently, posting a sub-2 ERA with an incredible strikeout rate and four quality starts over his last five starts. He’s getting great snap on all of his breaking pitches and his control has been pinpoint. His return is a massive reason that the Indians have been surging.
Steven Matz’s Curve
https://gfycat.com/slowthesefulmar
Matz was awesome on Saturday, pitching a complete game. He had everything working hard and down in the zone—exactly what he was known for when he was blasting through the minors and had his huge success early in his career. If he can keep his sinker down and the breakers on the black, he will have relative success.
GIF of the Night
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below, and the winner will be featured in the GIF of the Third Quarter Contest.
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