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 September Nastiest Pitches GIF Tournament. 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.
Gerrit Cole’s Fastball
https://gfycat.com/FailingCooperativeHornedtoad
Just one week ago, Gerrit Cole watched from the dugout as teammate Justin Verlander twirled his third career no-hitter. Yesterday, Cole tried his best to match JV’s performance, and he came as close as possible without accomplishing the feat. He struck out 15 and allowed only one hit over his eight innings on the mound. Cole’s fastball was explosive, leaving his fingertips in the upper 90s all day. Here, he painted the corner with a pitch 1 tick below 100 to freeze Daniel Vogelbach.
Diego Castillo’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/FrigidUnselfishIceblueredtopzebra
Diego Castillo pitched two perfect innings of relief in a Rays win yesterday against the Blue Jays. Castillo struck out three of the six batters he faced last night, and all went down against his slider. Castillo threw the pitch more than 75% of the time and registered an impressive 10/21 CSW on the pitch. Here, he gets one of his six swinging strikes of the night on a nasty slider that runs away from Teoscar Hernandez.
Jack Flaherty’s Two-Seamer
https://gfycat.com/MildFortunateFrilledlizard
Don’t look now, but Jack Flaherty is making a late case for NL Cy Young. Since July 7, Flaherty’s ERA has led all major league qualified pitchers as it sits at … wait for it … 0.90! That’s not a typo, and Flaherty just continues to roll. Yesterday, he threw eight shutout innings and struck out 10. His first strikeout of the day to Starling Marte was also his filthiest, a sharp two-seamer that runs in on the Pirates’ speedy No. 3 hitter.
Mike Clevinger’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/RigidDrearyLhasaapso
Speaking of pitchers who have been dominant in the past few months, let’s talk about Mike Clevinger. Clevinger picked up win No. 11 on the season yesterday as he threw 6.1 innings and struck out seven. Clevinger’s entire arsenal looked great yesterday, and although he only threw his curveball seven times, it was able to produce two swinging strikeouts, including this one that Clevinger buries in the dirt.
Sean Manaea’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/SleepyUntriedGoldeneye
In his second start of the year, Sean Manaea looked like he was in midseason form. The Oakland southpaw threw seven innings of one-run ball and struck out 10 opposing hitters. Manaea started his day by making quick work of Tigers leadoff hitter Victor Reyes with this filthy slider that runs in on the young outfielder.
Sandy Alcantara’s Sinker
https://gfycat.com/NippyAggressiveBarracuda
Sandy Alcantara worked efficiently yesterday, throwing only 102 pitches to complete a shutout of the Royals. Alcantara struck out eight en route to his CGSO win, and he used his filthy sinker here to strike out opposing pitcher Mike Montgomery, who stood no chance at this pitch that zig-zags out of the zone.
GIF of the Night
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below, and the winner will be featured in the September Nastiest Pitches GIF Tournament.
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