Every week, we review the nastiest pitches from the previous week in glorious HD GIFs. Don’t forget to vote for your favorite pitch and check back on Saturday to see if it will be in contention for the GIF of the Second Quarter Contest.
Week 18’s nastiest pitches include a couple across the strike zone curveballs and a couple of late dropping changeups.
Did we miss your favorite pitch? Send us a tweet next time @PitcherList and we’ll GIF it up + give you a shoutout here in the article.
Brendan McKay’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/brilliantspiffyamazontreeboa
Brendan McKay pitched really well after a tough first inning that included a big homer from Xander Bogaerts. McKay’s fastball is quite straight, so he may be susceptible to the homer, but his command is so good that he can still be effective. McKay also has a good curveball that he uses to finish off hitters such as Mitch Moreland.
Jose Berrios’ Curveball
https://gfycat.com/fardefenselessflamingo
The consistency issues that plagued Jose Berrios up to this point in his career have evaporated, as Berrios has been one of the absolute best pitchers in baseball. Following a seven-inning, two-hit shutout of the Marlins on Wednesday, Berrios owns a 2.80 ERA as he makes a solid push for his first AL Cy Young Award.
Noah Syndergaard’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/pastelquickachillestang
Will they or won’t they? We have about seven more hours until we find out whether Thor and his mighty hammer are on the move, but if Noah Syndergaard wanted to prove he belonged in New York, he did so last night. Thor struck out 11 White Sox hitters and gave up just one earned run in what was a truly phenomenal performance.
Chris Paddack’s Change
https://gfycat.com/warlikefirstdog
Jeez. This pitch is becoming a Nastiest Pitches mainstay. When Chris Paddack locates this on the outer half it is absolute death on lefties. It comes in harder than your average change and has more depth and run. Not fun for Jace Peterson.
Chaz Roe’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/SecondhandDisgustingBadger
In today’s edition of “Who Can Make Contact With Chaz Roe’s Slider?” we get to see Lourdes Gurriel Jr. give it his best shot. But unfortunately for the Blue Jays youngster, he didn’t only lose a teammate to the Mets yesterday, he also lost his pride when he fell victim to the filthiness that is Roe’s best pitch.
Clayton Kershaw’s Curve
https://gfycat.com/frayedimmaterialdogfish
Kershaw was doing Kershaw things yesterday, shutting the Nationals down after two in the first. He still has his 6+ innings streak going (gone six or more innings in every game this year) and has looked extremely sharp all year. As long as he doesn’t get injured (bangs on everything wooden in my apartment), I’d say we can count on Kersh to, well, be Kersh.
Zack Greinke’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/lazyblindirishsetter
Let’s play a game: every time Zack Greinke throws a sub-70 mph curveball on a day I write the nasty pitch writeup and it ends up in said writeup, take a shot. Not a very efficient game, but a consistent one at least. Greinke has simply continued his crusade to prove age is just a number in 2019, as the 35-going-on-36-year-old owns a 2.87 ERA and 1.14 BB/9 through 22 starts, making a case for his first Cy Young Award since 2009. For reference, Juan Soto was an 11-year-old when Greinke brought home his first Cy Young. That’s insane, and so is Greinke’s aging curve.
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below and the winner may be featured in the GIF of the Second Quarter Contest.
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Graphic by Michael Haas (@digitalHaas on Twitter)