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 Second 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.
Jake Arrieta’s Slider – Arrieta returned to form Tuesday in a pitcher’s duel against Noah Syndergaard. The Cubs ace struck out eight batters, including Alejandro De Aza, who had no chance against this perfectly placed 88 mph Slider.
Reynaldo Lopez’s Curveball – Lopez made his MLB debut Tuesday, lasting only 4.2 innings against the Dodgers. Even though he gave up six earned runs, his strikeout ability was on full display, sending nine batters back to the bench. Yasmani Grandal had to take a seat after this tight Curveball locked him up at the plate.
Danny Salazar’s Fastball – Salazar has become one of the most consistent strikeout machines in baseball this year, with 12 of 18 starts featuring at least seven K’s. He made several of the Royals look foolish Tuesday, including Kendrys Morales, who didn’t even bother throwing a bat at this scorching Fastball with plenty of tailing motion.
Cody Reed’s Slider – The 23-year-old rookie is still looking for his first MLB win, but his quality start against the Braves shows he has serious upside. He can still contribute in the strikeouts category by tossing dirty stuff like this back-foot Slider to Anthony Recker for the K.
Blake Snell’s Curveball – Snell recorded a career-high nine strikeouts in Coors Field, shutting out the Rockies for six innings en route to a win. While such a strong outing in Denver is an impressive feat for any rookie, another impressive act is getting Rockies leadoff man Charlie Blackmon to chase on a dive-bombing Curveball in the dirt.
GIF Of The Night
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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Christopher Chase Edmunds is a writer for Pitcher List. He is currently working on a Master’s in Journalism from the University of Alabama. He grew up in Birmingham, perfecting the knuckleball in the backyard. He can be found streaming Colorado Rockies games and avoiding any association with the Atlanta Braves.