Rob Friedman Biography
Rob Friedman is an American sports journalist and social media personality working for FOX Sports as an MLB analyst. He joined the FOX Sports team in 2022.
Rob Friedman Career
In addition to being a pitching analyst for Major League Baseball, ESPN College Baseball, and ESPN Sunday Night Baseball, Friedman also makes pitching analysis videos and GIFs for Twitter. Some pitchers were referred to as “PitchingNinja Bait” in an ESPN article that previewed the 2019 Major League Baseball postseason. This term refers to pitchers whose pitches are so undeniably attractive that they are likely to be converted into GIFs by the indispensable Twitter user, @pitchingninja. Throughout the 2019 season, Friedman also provided content for a weekly segment for ESPN Sunday Night Baseball and “Changeup” on DAZN. It featured weekly highlights of Major League Baseball pitching from Cespedes Family BBQ. Journalists and other media outlets regularly use Friedman’s analysis to help visually represent major league pitchers’ pitches.
Pitchers in both the Major Leagues and Minor Leagues have also acknowledged that his work helped them hone and improve their pitches. Through conversations on Twitter, Jake Diekman acknowledged in 2020 that Friedman had assisted him in creating his Slider. In baseball, Yu Darvish acknowledged that Friedman helped him refine his Slider. Cole Irvin claimed to have learned how to use his cutter by watching Friedman’s PitchingNinja YouTube channel interview with Corbin Burnes. Devin Williams’ changeup was also dubbed “Airbender” by Friedman, who also dubbed it the most “absurd” pitch in baseball. Williams was recognized as having benefited from Friedman’s coverage when he was awarded the Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award by the National League.
“Combin[ing] the knowledge of someone who studied pitching to help his young son improve with the wonderment of a fan who can’t help but plotz at how major leaguers are capable of manipulating a baseball,” is how one person has described Friedman’s approach to pitching analysis. Friedman’s contributions to baseball as a pitching analyst earned him a spot in the Topps 2020 Allen and Ginter Baseball Card series. Friedman’s PitchingNinja Twitter account was ranked #30 on Sports Illustrated’s “67 Things Baseball Fans Can Be Grateful for in 2020” and was acknowledged by ESPN for bringing flair and uniqueness to the game, thereby promoting change in baseball culture.
The sixth-biggest All-Star moment occurred in 2021 when Friedman persuaded Liam Hendriks to throw a knuckleball in exchange for a charitable donation at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. For a few months during the 2021 season, Friedman’s Pitching Ninja show on YouTube was sponsored by Trevor Bauer’s Watch Momentum company. However, in mid-2021, Momentum and Friedman ended their sponsorship arrangement. Friedman received the “2020 Game Changer of the Year Award” from Lost Boyz Inc. in recognition of his contributions to their baseball-based program that assists inner-city youth. Friedman became a lead pitching analyst for the Peacock (a streaming service) MLB team for the 2022 season.
Additionally, he was appointed Pitching Analyst for Major League Baseball at Fox Sports (United States). Contributing frequently to Fox Sports, Friedman analyzes pitchers and their pitches, breaking down players like Shohei Ohtani and his new sinker (pitch). He works for FanDuel as the lead pitching analyst as well. The 2022 documentary “Facing Nolan” included an audio-visual version of Friedman’s interview with Nolan Ryan. MLB declared in January 2024 that it would formally add a “Sword” statistic to Statcast in remembrance of PitchingNinja’s designation of weak swings as a “Sword.”
Rob Friedman Salary
Friedman earns an annual salary of about $47,000-$120,000.
Rob Friedman Net Worth
Friedman has an estimated net worth of about $1 Million – $7 Million which he has earned through his career as a sports journalist and social media personality.
Rob Friedman Age
Friedman was born on September 19, 1966, in the United States. He is 57 years old as of 2023 and he celebrates his birthday on the 19th of September every year.
Rob Friedman Height and Weight
Friedman stands at a height of 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 meters) and weighs 98 kg (215 lbs).
Rob Friedman Family
Friedman likes to keep his personal life private hence he has neither disclosed the names of his parent nor those of his siblings. However, this information will be updated when available.
Rob Friedman Wife and Children
Friedman has not disclosed his relationship status as he is very private with his personal life. However, this information will be updated when available.
Rob Friedman FOX Sports
While working for FOX Sports Friedman co-anchors alongside:
Rob Friedman PitchingNinja
Friedman founded FlatGroundapp in January 2019 with the goal of using social media to scout and recruit pitchers. Baseball scouting and recruiting have noted Friedman’s FlatGroundApp account as a recent innovation. Many Major League Baseball executives follow FlatGround, which gives players free publicity. Several professional pitchers, including Justin Topa, Taylor Grover, Chris Dula, Chris Nunn, Nathan Patterson, Tyler Gillies, Casey Crosby, D. J. Snelten, and Jordan Brink, have acknowledged that Friedman and FlatGround were instrumental in helping them get noticed by Major League affiliated organizations.
National publications reported on Nathan Patterson’s signing in August 2019. Patterson stated that PitchingNinja and FlatGroundapp’s viral videos helped him gain visibility, which helped him sign a professional contract with the Oakland Athletics. It has been said that Patterson’s signing is Friedman’s “most public success story.” Logan Sawyer, an independent league pitcher, was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2022 thanks in part to Friedman’s tweet about him. Furthermore, at the beginning of 2019, Alex Bregman reached out to young baseball player Jax Nystrom, who had been featured on Friedman’s FlatGroundBats account, to play catch during Spring Training. This story was published on MLB.com and other websites.
Rob Friedman Social Media Platform
Friedman is very active on his Twitter and Instagram pages. He has 491k followers on Twitter and 347.2k followers on Instagram.