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 Corey Kluber’s Slider for winning GIF of the Week! Its crazy good movement down and away at the last moment was no match for Todd Fraizer.
Kevin Siegrist’s Curveball – Siegrist has been working on improving his Curveball this season and it showed in his at-bat against Bryce Harper where he got the reigning NL MVP to swing right through a pair of hooks. His first whiff was a sight to behold, falling well underneath Harper’s bat. (Thanks to Redditor iamadacheat for the tip!)
Yu Darvish’s Slider – It was a pleasure to see Darvish return to the hill for the first time since 2014 and he did not disappoint, striking out seven Pirates batters en route to the win. His first K of the game came to Andrew McCutchen who looked incredibly uncomfortable whiffing at this tight Slider. (Thanks to Redditor cjn13 for the tip!)
Aaron Sanchez’s Curveball – While it wasn’t Sanchez at his best, he kept the Jays in the game against the Red Sox on Friday. His Curveball was looking stellar, and made a lasting impression on Xander Bogaerts in the first. (Thanks to Redditors iamlowsound and gajarga for the tip!)
Joe Kelly’s Changeup – It was a struggle for Kelly in Toronto this weekend and the fourth inning dragged on for longer than he hoped. His repertoire is filled with lively pitches, though, and he used this Changeup to finally shut the door on the Blue Jays threat. Talk about lateral movement… (Thanks to Redditor chachasox for the tip!)
Matt Moore’s Curveball – Moore has some control issues he still needs to iron out, but his Curveball will keep his strikeouts alive through the year. Pitches like this deuce to Austin Romine makes him an incredibly fun arm to watch.
Max Scherzer’s Slider – Despite allowing a grand-slam Friday evening, Scherzer locked himself in and retired 14 batters straight following the devastating HR. He often relied on his Slider to punch out batters, including this sweet bender to Randal Grichuk in the seventh.
Jerad Eickhoff’s Curveball – Eickhoff has one of the prettier looking hooks around and froze Jorge Soler in the box with this big Curveball to close his first frame against the Cubs this weekend. (Thanks to Redditors TauRads and Sparx7 and for the tip!)
Stephen Strasburg’s Changeup – It feels like cheating featuring Strasburg’s deadly Changeup, yet it’s hard to deny it a spot on this list when it features so much horizontal movement. Watch how it starts at the middle of the plate before diving well out of the strike zone to Matt Adams. (Thanks to Redditor efitz11 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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