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 Contest. 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.
Mike Foltynewicz’s Fastball – Despite being known for his strikeout ability, Foltynewicz fanned just one batter in yesterday’s affair. However, it was with a filthy Fastball that started right along the outside corner before peeling off the plate at the last moment at 94mph. I could watch this one over and over for hours.
Lance McCullers’ Curveball – Like Folty, McCullers didn’t light up the scoreboard with plenty of strikeouts but made some great pitches when he needed to. This deuce to Derek Dietrich was our favorite of the night, featuring plenty of depth as it just clipped the inside corner for the backwards K. (Thanks to @brihoang for the tip!)
Corey Kenebel’s Fastball – Let’s be honest, the location of this pitch is pretty poor. However, watching Allen Cordoba not only whiff on a poorly placed heater, but seeing him fall to his knees by a 99mph Fastball is too good to pass up. (Thanks to @Sam__Bornstein for the tip!)
Kyle Barraclough Slider – Barraclough is doing his best to climb back to his 14.00 K/9 from last season as he struck out the side in the seventh inning against the Astros. His second punchout was our favorite of the lot, making Yuli Gurriel regret his swing as the ball dropped out of nowhere from the middle of the plate to underneath the zone.
Matt Shoemaker’s Splitter – Shoemaker looks to be on one of his signature runs again, striking out seven batters last time out before collecting nine strikeouts against the White Sox Wednesday evening. The Splitter took the spotlight once again, falling off the table constantly like this pitch against Matt Davidson.
Zach Eflin’s Fastball – It was a rocky start all around for Eflin as he tried to hold off the Ranger bats, surrendering seven runs in four frames. He did put out the flames in the first, though, fanning slugger Joey Gallo with the bases loaded on a sweet comeback Fastball to seal the frame.
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.
[polldaddy poll=9750321]
Looks like the poll is from yesterday :)
Thanks for catching that! Fixed.
My favorite is definitely the punch-out by the umpire on Eflin’s K.