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 GIF of the First Quarter Contest. 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.
Luis Castillo’s Fastball
https://gfycat.com/LiquidThatFeline
In what was Luis Castillo’s weakest showing of the year so far, the Reds pitcher allowed four earned runs over seven innings. However, Castillo was still able rack up nine strikeouts, the prettiest of which was a two-seamer with crazy horizontal movement that caught Mike Berger looking.
Spencer Turnbull’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/ClumsyFixedDanishswedishfarmdog
Spencer Turnbull continued his breakout season yesterday, stifling the Royals offense and bringing his season ERA down to 2.31. Over seven innings, Turnbull got seven punchouts, the filthiest being this curve that absolutely drops out on Alex Gordon.
Domingo German’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/DesertedMemorableDiscus
The Domingo German hype train has long left the station, and it is very clear why that is. His ability to freeze hitters on pitches like this slider has led to tremendous success in what has been an injury-plagued season for the Yankees.
Colton Brewer’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/FluffyDescriptiveBunny
The Red Sox offense might have been the primary force behind their series win against the White Sox this weekend, but how about we give some credit to the pitchers? Colton Brewer was just showing off on this pitch, which landed about 2 feet off the plate and, needless to say, absolutely fooled Wellington Castillo.
Zack Greinke’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/HauntingOpenIslandwhistler
It’s tough to say which is slower here: Zack Greinke’s windup or his 68 mph curveball. Whatever the answer may be, this delivery kept Trevor Story off balance just enough to get him swinging at a gorgeous curveball for Greinke’s fourth strikeout of the game.
Josh Hader’s Fastball
https://gfycat.com/CompleteArcticBluebottlejellyfish
It’s always a pleasure to see Josh Hader pitch (even when he sends my hometown Mets home with an extra tally in the L column). A 19.87 K/9 is hard to come across in baseball, but Hader makes it look easy to achieve that number thanks to fastballs like this one, which barely hits the outside corner.
Justin Verlander’s Fastball
https://gfycat.com/BriskTartAfricanharrierhawk
In the battle of one of the greatest pitchers (if not the greatest) of his generation versus the God of WAR, the God showed us that even he has his weaknesses. Justin Verlander’s fastball nearly rises to Mike Trout’s neck, and miraculously, he is able to get the man who doesn’t swing and miss to do exactly that.
Aroldis Chapman’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/GlumLightGrosbeak
The rain couldn’t keep Aroldis Chapman from getting a save yesterday. This game was called early, so here is the final pitch that won it for the Yankees yesterday, a filthy slider to end the eighth inning.
(Special shoutout to Asher Dratel, Alex Silverman, and Stephen Dudas for their recommendations with some of these pitches!)
GIF of the Night
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below, and the winner will be featured in the GIF of the First Quarter Contest.
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