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 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.
R.A. Dickey’s Knuckleball – Whenever Dickey is on the hill, there’s plenty of potential for some GIFable pitches and last night did not disappoint. Watch this pitch change direction multiple times and not complete a single revolution as it arrives to the plate against Michael Saunders.
Carlos Martinez’s Fastball – Martinez was cruising through six innings before a rough seventh brought his night to a close. The foundation of his repertoire is 95mph+ heat with great movement and he showcased it with this blistering pitch that Zack Cozart couldn’t handle.
Marcus Stroman’s Slider – It was a tough challenge for Stroman on Sunday as he faced the high-octane Yankee bats, but he cruised through and made some clutch pitches to keep the game close. A great example is this 3-2 Slider with a man on third that Brett Gardner just couldn’t resist as it dove down-and-in off the plate.
Blake Treinen’s Fastball – Sometimes there are pitches that just boggle our mind and Treinen’s Sinker does just that. The amount of drop this pitch gets at 99mph is unreal, making us happy someone is carrying the torch as Zach Britton sits on the DL. (Thanks to Redditor Weegian for the tip!)
Clayton Kershaw’s Curveball – We know you’ve seen this pitch plenty of times, but is that a good enough reason to leave off yet another Kershaw Curveball? It’s one of the most beautiful pitches to watch in the majors.
Michael Fulmer’s Fastball – While the start was the first of 2017 where Fulmer didn’t earn a Quality Start, the young Detroit stud was showcasing elite talent with a Fastball that not only reached 99mph, but had absurd life too. This pitch is crazy. (Thanks to Redditor TheBrimic for the tip!)
Koda Glover’s Slider – It looks like Glover said some not so nice words to Yasiel Puig after this pitch that caused a rare after the game is over benches clearing kerfluffle. The movement on the pitch is somewhat exaggerated by the catcher’s glove jerk, but at 94 MPH Puig was unable to make contact. Any cut at the speed is hard to put the bat on.
Rick Porcello’s Fastball – Porcello hasn’t been pitching with the same polish as his Cy Young year, though he still has it in him to make some gorgeous pitches. For example, look at the late horizontal bite on this beautiful inside Fastball to Chase Headley that earned a called strike three.
GIF Of The Week
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below and the winner will be featured in the GIF of the First Half Contest.
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