Every morning we review the nastiest pitches from the previous day's games in glorious HD 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 Half. 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.
Craig Kimbrel's Curveball - The side-angle delivery makes Kimbrel's Knuckle-Curveball act more like a Slider than other deuces, but regardless of its delineation, this pitch is all kinds of filthy. The slow motion of this pitch curling back to nip the outside corner is way too fun to watch over and over again.
Hey Nick, Cotton’s change is more a “Screwball”. I’ve heard a few announcers call it a Screwball, and if you watch the movement, it’s much closer to a Screwball then a circle change. If you compare it to Oliver Drake (who everyone says throws a Screwball), it’s the same pitch.
I’ve heard this quite a bit lately (I blame the Royals announcers who kept calling in a Screwball and it confused everyone) and I think it’s time to set the record straight.
A Screwball is a Curveball that acts like the opposite arm’s Curveball. That is, it’s a LHP Curveball in every way, except it’s a RHP throwing it, so it bends arm-side instead of glove side.
Cotton’s Changeup is not this. Here are a couple links talking specifically about Cotton’s Changeup that details why it moves like it does, how he releases it, and its grip. It’s a Changeup through-and-through with a bigger emphasis on getting on the side of the ball to add horizontal movement.
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/introducing-baseballs-next-top-changeup/
https://twitter.com/MLBNetwork/status/851625248084635648
Keep fighting the good fight, man.