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 First Quarter Contest. Week 4’s winner was Luis Castillo’s 2-seamer. High velocity, sharp break, and right on the inside black. An almost perfect pitch.
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.
This season’s 5th week of GIFs was a smorgasbord of nastiness. Check back next Saturday to see which GIF our readers picked as the nastiest pitch of the week.
Stephen Strasburg’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/majordistantbaiji
Stephen Strasburg got to 1,500 career strikeouts in the fewest innings last night, which is a huge accomplishment. Strasburg had all his pitches working. I could’ve chosen any number of curveballs or well-spotted fastballs, but this changeup to Jedd Gyorko was particularly beautiful to watch tumble out of the zone.
Aaron Nola’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/vigilantsafebinturong
It’s been rough sledding for Aaron Nola so far as his 5.06 ERA can attest, but we got a look at some vintage Nola here against JaCoby Jones, jamming him like a pinkie toe on the coffee table with this beauty of a changeup.
Trevor Bauer’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/pastcircularimperialeagle
The matter-of-fact walk-off always gets me. Whenever Trevor Bauer takes the mound, you’ll have a cornucopia of pitches from which to choose. His slider was so filthy last night that I could have picked any of them. This example might have been the best. It appears to skid out of the zone like a car on a wet highway.
Jordan Hicks‘ Sinker
https://gfycat.com/VariableRealCod
Honestly, I could probably just write “100 MPH with sink” here and it would be totally adequate. But I thought some context would be nice. Not only does his sinker AVERAGE 100 MPH on the season, but his fastball averages a whopping 102 MPH. How many pitchers EVER can boast two offerings that average triple digits? None (At least as far as I know, let me know if I’m somehow wrong).
Joakim Soria’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/NaughtyDefinitiveChevrotain
So far this season, Joakim Soria seems to be far from the coveted bullpen arm he usually is. That doesn’t mean that he won’t still offer some nasty curves every once in a while, such as this pitch that made Freddy Galvis seem just plain foolish.
Jose Alvarado’s Fastball
https://gfycat.com/MildSparklingBlackrhino
At a certain point, I should probably stop using Jose Alvarado in these articles just because of how often I use him as an auto-nasty pitch card, but I won’t. Partially because it makes my life easier, but also because he’s going to keep throwing utter filth like this offering here.
Max Fried’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/AshamedSaneInganue
The young Braves prospect certainly showed off his huge upside on Friday, striking out 8 over 5 1/3 innings of work. Among his victims was Nolan Arenado, succumbing to the most Blake Snell-esque curveball we’ve seen since the last time Snell pitched. Expect to see Fried featured here plenty this season, assuming he gets the necessary time in Atlanta’s rotation.
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below and the winner may be featured in the GIF of the First Quarter Contest.
[polldaddy poll=10310784]
Graphic by Michael Haas (@digitalHaas on Twitter)
Still missing Dillon Maples slider. It would win nastiest gif of the season.
I appreciate caite your fervor for maples. If you see a pitch you’d like to include in a Nastiest Pitches article you can send a tweet to @pitcherlist and let us know.