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.
Kevin Siegrist’s Changeup – The camera was set up perfectly for us to get a look at Siegrist’s stuff and my-oh-my did his stuff look good. This Changeup to Darin Ruf was downright filthy as it faded away from the plate in a hurry.
Stephen Strasburg’s Slider – Strasburg has been toying with a Slider for years, and it has finally come together in 2016. He’s getting excellent movement at 92 MPH on the pitch as once again Kendrys Morales is victim to an absurdly good high velocity Slider. (Thanks to Redditor leontrout00 for the tip!)
Jose Fernandez’s Curveball – Fernandez is beginning to look like the JoFer of old with his Curveball leading the way. It’s one thing when his hook buckles the knees of a batter to fall into the strikezone for strike three, it’s another when that hitter is perennial MVP candidate Paul Goldschmidt.
Corey Kluber’s Slider – While I adore slow motion shots, a great behind-the-umpire camera angle gives us a unique way to understand the difficulty hitters have when standing in the box against major league pitching. Notice how late Kluber’s Slider breaks down and away to Miguel Cabrera and comprehend that none of us could have checked our swing either.
Mike Fiers‘ Curveball – It’s Fiers’ secondary pitches, not his Fastball, that allow him to be a decent strikeout threat every night. His slow Curve is always a fun pitch to watch, especially when it falls perfectly on the inside corner for a backwards K. (Thanks to Redditor brihoang for the tip!)
Aaron Sanchez’s Fastball – Sanchez has one of the liveliest heaters in the bigs, getting monstrous horizontal ride with every pitch. Watch how this one starts in the middle of the zone before diving down-and-in off the plate and under Ryan Rua’s bat.
Clay Buchholz’s Curveball – It hasn’t been the most successful of seasons thus far for Buchholz, but he took a step in the right direction against the ChiSox last night as his hook was doing its part to keep Boston in the game. He got excellent bite on this Curveball that earned a big whiff from Jose Abreu.
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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