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 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.
Congrats to Taijuan Walker’s Splitter for winning GIF of the Week! It was a tight race this week, but the incredible horizontal movement of Walker’s Splitter earned top honors.
Drew Storen’s Slider – Storen has the set-up man role locked down in Toronto, and he looked incredible over the weekend. Just watch this Slider dart out of the strikezone and well off the plate to Mookie Betts. (Thanks to Redditor yung_jocp for the tip!)
Jake Arrieta’s Curveball – It was just another day at the office for Arrieta over the weekend, extending his scoreless streak at home to 48+ innings as he silenced the Rockies. His deuce was unreal, especially on this pitch to Ryan Raburn that falls into the dirt in a hurry. (Thanks to Redditor TurboRuhland for the tip!)
Max Scherzer’s Changeup – There were a many pitches we could have selected from this outing, but the look on Ryan Howard’s face as this slow-ball glided back across the strikezone was too good to pass up. (Thanks to Redditor AngelFrog for the tip!)
Garrett Richards‘ Cutter – I absolutely love this pitch. It comes in at 95 MPH and starts off the plate, making Oswaldo Arcia believe it’s a two-seamer and out of the zone. Suddenly it breaks last minute toward the plate and nips the outside corner for strike three. If Richards can do this constantly the sky’s the limit.
Clayton Kershaw’s Curveball – It’s hard to skip over Kershaw’s bender after one of his starts, and this mighty hook to Gregor Blanco is too fun to ignore. (Thanks to @mleung89 and Redditor TriceratopsZookeeper for the tip!)
David Price’s Changeup – Now that Price calls Fenway his home, we’re getting a better camera angle on his pitches’ movement. Here we can see the late fade on his Changeup that easily strikes out Chris Colabello.
Andrew Miller’s Slider – We’ve all heard the stats about Detances and Miller’s dominance on the hill recently, but it’s another thing to see it in action. Norichika Aoki must have missed this Slider by at least a foot. (Thanks to Redditor Colossal89 for the tip!)
Joe Ross‘ Fastball – Sometimes the best pitches are ones with simple late bite that the batter doesn’t expect. We got a good look at the younger Ross carve up the Phillies over the weekend, and his Sinker featured impressive movement to get the strikeout.
Chris Sale’s Changeup – It might not look like much, but as a lefty Brad Miller wasn’t even considering a Changeup, let alone one that starts on the inside corner and dives into his hip. It’s an incredible pitch that the camera angle doesn’t do justice.
Aaron Sanchez’s Curveball – The Sanchez train keeps on rolling as Aaron earned the Win Sunday against the Red Sox. His stuff was looking good early as it froze Chris Young in the second inning with this sweet Curveball. (Thanks to Redditor pat_spens for the tip!)
GIF Of The Weekend
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below and the winner will be featured in the GIF of the First Half contest.
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