MLB stars share their dream pitching arsenals
With the Major League Baseball season on hiatus and players looking for ways to keep their minds occupied, a number of the game's top pitchers took to social media on Tuesday to offer up their dream pitching arsenals.
St. Louis Cardinals ace Jack Flaherty's dream pitching arsenal would consist of the following five pitches:
- Aroldis Chapman's fastball
- Jose Fernandez's slider
- Adam Wainwright's curveball
- Pedro Martinez's changeup
- Mariano Rivera's cutter
Mariano Rivera's cutter is one of the greatest pitches in baseball history
Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Walker Buehler had some thoughts of his own. His dream five-pitch mix would be:
- Jacob deGrom's fastball
- Chaz Roe/Clayton Kershaw's slider
- Rich Hill's curveball
- Mariano Rivera's cutter
- Joe Kelly's two-seam fastball
A compilation of nasty Rich Hill curveballs
Buehler's teammate and Dodgers swingman Ross Stripling added a twist by including a knuckleball into his dream mix:
- Nolan Ryan's fastball
- Sandy Koufax's curveball
- Mariano Rivera's cutter
- Trevor Hoffman's changeup
- Charlie Hough's knuckleball
Trevor Hoffman rode his changeup into the Hall of Fame
Arizona Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen continued the trend of including Rivera's cutter into his arsenal:
- Justin Verlander's fastball
- Pedro Martinez's changeup
- Mariano Rivera's cutter
- Clayton Kershaw's curveball
- Chris Sale's slider
Justin Verlander's fastball is a deadly weapon
Injured Pittsburgh Pirates hurler Jameson Taillon made sure to include the slider of five-time Cy Young winner Randy Johnson in his picks:
- Nolan Ryan's fastball
- Clayton Kershaw's curveball
- Mariano Rivera's cutter
- Randy Johnson's slider
- Pedro Martinez's changeup
Randy Johnson used to throw a scary slider
Taillon also added an extra dream section of active players, not including Kershaw:
- Gerrit Cole's fastball
- Aaron Nola's curveball
- Corey Kluber's cutter
- Jacob deGrom's slider
- Luis Castillo's changeup
Longtime St. Louis Cardinals righty Adam Wainwright couldn't settle on a single arsenal.
- Greg Maddux's fastball
- Kerry Wood's curveball
- Pedro Martinez's changeup
- John Smoltz's slider
- Mariano Rivera's cutter
- Nolan Ryan's fastball
- Mike Mussina's curveball
- Johan Santana/Eric Gagne's changeup
- Randy Johnson's slider
- Roy Halladay/Chris Carpenter's cutter
Greg Maddux's two-seam fastball had unbelievable movement
New York Mets pitcher Marcus Stroman added mentality to his selection of attributes.
- Greg Maddux's fastball
- Pedro Martinez's changeup
- Jose Fernandez's slider
- Clayton Kershaw's curveball
- Doc Halladay, Mariano Rivera's cutter
- R.A. Dickey's knuckleball
- Bob Gibson's mentality
Bob Gibson was known as a fierce competitor on the mound