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 8’s winner was Jordan Hicks’s Two-seam Fastball. A front door two-seamer at 103 MPH. Hitting that pitch seems impossible.
Week 10’s nastiest pitches are slider heavy with two from Kyle Crick and others from Yu Darvish and Chris Sale. A mesmerizing Chris Devenski changeup is the only non-breaking ball this week.
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.
Chris Devenski’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/waterymarvelousjunebug
Chris Devenski used to fill the Ryan Pressly role, but a demotion in the bullpen pecking order doesn’t mean Devenski can’t still pitch at an elite level at times. This changeup to Mallex Smith fades away from the zone beautifully.
Yu Darvish’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/WeirdTalkativeEskimodog
Yu Darvish looked solid in 5 1/3 against the Rockies, which at this point is a marked improvement from what we’ve largely seen so far. This slider to punch out Daniel Murphy after an epic 13-pitch duel was the highlight of his night. Darvish carries a 4.88 ERA into his next start. His 4.01 ERA over his past six starts at least gives some hope that the former ace can turn things around.
Kyle Crick’s Slider #1
https://gfycat.com/VioletYawningIbizanhound
It’s truly a blessing for me whenever Kyle Crick pitches because he’s such an obvious choice for these write-ups. I’m still not exactly sure how he got this slider to end up on the inside part of the zone, but I assume it must have been some sort of black magic because no other explanation makes sense.
Walker Buehler’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/FamousSoftHen
Walker Buehler posted the highlight of Monday’s four total games, allowing just two hits over 8 innings of 1 run, 11 K ball. He hasn’t been quite the dominant force we saw his rookie year this season, but this outing is certainly a step in the correct direction. He hasn’t been missing bats as regularly, though it’s worth noting that he’s lowered his BB/9 to an impressive 1.6.
Kyle Crick’s Slider #2
https://gfycat.com/ScornfulDimwittedHellbender
Pitches are not supposed to move like this. Kyle Crick struck out the side in order for the Pirates yesterday, using an otherworldy slider on two of his outs, with the one shown above being the nastiest. (Shoutout to @LudaChristian25 for the tip on this one!)
Justin Verlander’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/AptSilentCrustacean
Uhm, I needed something other than a slider to finish off this Nastiest Pitches edition. So here’s Justin Verlander’s curveball. It’s a good pitch. He’s a good pitcher. The Astros are good, and they won last night. Good? Good.
Chris Sale’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/BarrenSophisticatedAdder
After steadily pushing his ERA down from his awful start, Chris Sale’s ERA jumped up to 4.35 after allowing 4 ER to the Yankees. Despite this, Chris Sale gave us a great number of highlights, most notably this back-foot slider to embarrass Gleyber Torres.
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below and the winner may be featured in the GIF of the First Quarter Contest.
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Graphic by Michael Haas (@digitalHaas on Twitter)