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.
John Lackey’s Fastball – Lackey featured excellent horizontal movement from his Fastball all night, but this rider to Asdrubal Cabrera was absurd to say the least. Watch it start at Cabrera’s chest before riding all the way to the outside corner. (Thanks to @mikequinn_ for the tip!)
Michael Pineda’s Slider – It has been a hot month for Pineda, and his Slider looked as good as ever against the Rangers Thursday afternoon. He may have thrown his best of the game on his final pitch, this diving slide piece to Prince Fielder for the K.
Carlos Carrasco’s Fastball – Despite matching up against a pair of top tier offenses, Carrasco has been a complete stud, allowing just 1 ER and collecting 21 Ks in 16.1 innings of work. You can point to a highly efficient Sinker to explain his strikeout brigade yesterday, especially this one coming in at 95 mph that featured beautiful tumbling action to Kevin Pillar.
Steve Cishek Slider – Despite his troubles in Miami last season, Cishek has held serve as the Mariners closer this year, holding a 2.45 ERA and 44 Ks in 33 games. He closed the door on a possible Orioles comeback last night with this wiffleball Slider that found its way under Pedro Alvarez’s bat for the K.
David Robertson’s Cutter – Robertson has been lights out in his last 11 appearances for the ChiSox, and he sealed the victory by striking out the side Thursday night. He started it off with a textbook outside Cutter with super late bite off the plate to fan Trevor Plouffe.
Gio Gonzalez’s Curveball – Despite the wheels coming off a bit in the later innings, Gio still fanned nine Reds and escaped with the Win on his home turf. His deuce looked pretty, especially as it earned a big whiff from Eugenio Suarez.
Brian Shaw’s Fastball – Similar to Carrasco’s fantastic heater, Shaw got some beautiful sink on this 94 mph fastball. Check out its late movement as it drops underneath Devon Travis‘ bat.
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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