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 Slider
https://gfycat.com/yellowishannualisabellineshrike
Clayton Kershaw looked like the legendary pitcher we’ve known him as for years on Wednesday, allowing just two hits over seven innings, and striking out 10 Marlins. The ace of the best team in baseball owns a 2.63 ERA, though his 9.26 K/9 is lower than we’re used to seeing from him. Injuries and age are slowly taking their toll, and Kershaw likely doesn’t have too many years of dominance left, but we should all sit back and enjoy watching what he does still have in the tank.
Stephen Strasburg’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/faithfuluncomfortablebarbet
The past couple of weeks haven’t been particularly friendly to Stephen Strasburg, with a god-awful 8.31 ERA and an uncharacteristically low 8.82 K/9. This season has been inconsistent for the former No. 1 overall draft pick, with a 3.82 ERA though an impressive 3.28 FIP. The Nationals will need him to snap out of his funk for their prospective playoff run.
Chris Archer’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/artisticunknownhorsechestnutleafminer
Congratulations all of you who put your foot down on giving Chris Archer another chance this season; you were right. The former All-Star struck out 10 Angels over five innings on Wednesday, but his 5.23 ERA leaves as much to be desired as humanly possible. Though optimism is probably foolish at this point, it’s worth noting his past three starts have resulted in a 3.17 ERA and 13.24 K/9.
Trevor Bauer’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/imperturbableeuphorickangaroo
Apparently Trevor Bauer realized that people were jumping back on his bandwagon after his last start against the Cubs because he decided to pitch a polar opposite game against the Nationals on Wednesday in case everyone was getting too comfortable starting him. He allowed nine earned runs over 4.1 innings, striking out just four. Bauer obviously has the talent to be one of the absolute best pitchers in baseball, but he’s been startlingly inconsistent this season, leading up to to a trade to the Reds.
Adam Ottavino’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/ambitiousincompleteafricangroundhornbill
Adam Ottavino kept his potential Mariano Rivera Award run going on Wednesday, recording the single out he was called into action for via the strikeout. He sports an impressive 12.56 K/9 and an even more impressive 1.70 ERA, though his usage means he’s only recorded two saves. Not every acquisition made by the Yankees has panned out so far (See: James Paxton), but Ottavino has blown away expectations in the Bronx, with said results landing somewhere in Brooklyn, more accurately.
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.
[polldaddy poll=10386186]
As much as I love the art and beauty of these pitches.What’s lost is the pitch or sequence before the pitch.I pitches’ effectiveness can be lost without this consideration…