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 @PitcherList and we’ll GIF it up + give you a shoutout here in the article.
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Trevor Bauer’s Curveball – Detroit’s Jose Iglesias was seeing phantoms on this Bauer hook, though it’s tough to blame him, as the Indians starter picked up 12 K’s in eight innings during a 4-1 Cleveland win.
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Justin Verlander’s Slider – Rougned Odor continued a rough season with an 0-for-3 night against the Astros, and he couldn’t stay upright on this Verlander slide piece. The Houston ace picked up 15 whiffs total and nine on his slider, which helped him to nine strikeouts in six innings against the Rangers.
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Garrett Richards‘ Slider – This Richards breaker turned Minnesota’s Ryan LaMarre into a helical wreck on one of its seven induced whiffs on the night. The 30-year-old starter bagged 14 whiffs overall on his way to seven K’s in 5.1 frames.
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Stephen Strasburg’s Fastball – Stras left after two innings with right shoulder trouble, but beforehand, his stuff was typically impressive. Here, he caressed the outside corner at 97 mph against San Francisco’s Andrew McCutchen.
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Chris Sale’s Slider – As reliable as it is deadly, Sale’s putaway pitch has carved out a regular spot in this space. It did its thing once again Friday, as Charlie Tilson was left flailing at this third-inning filth. Still, he wasn’t over-reliant on it to pick up swings and misses, as it comprised six of his 23 overall whiffs.
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Chad Kuhl’s Curveball – The Pirates starter left Chicago’s Anthony Rizzo looking silly as the bottom dropped out of this curve to get Pittsburgh out of some second-inning trouble. (Thanks to our own Ben Palmer for the spot!)
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Lance Lynn’s Cutter – Even though Albert Pujols is chugging toward the end of his career, Lynn will always get to tell his grandchildren he once made one of the greatest hitters who ever lived chuck his bat and stare at his hand in disbelief.
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Jordan Hicks‘ Two-Seamer – Hicks gassed it up to 102 mph at one point in this at-bat against Cincinnati’s Billy Hamilton, but he had the Reds outfielder cringing on this fastball before it caught the inside part of the plate.
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.
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