Rob Friedman (baseball analyst)

Rob Friedman
Alma mater	University of North Carolina and Emory Law School
Known for	Baseball Analyst/Social Media Personality

Rob Friedman, also known by the moniker PitchingNinja, is an American baseball analyst and social media personality known for his pitching gifs and videos on Twitter and for creating social media resources for baseball recruiting and scouting.^[1][2] He is an analyst for Major League Baseball and ESPN^[3][4] Friedman coaches High School baseball and is also a licensed attorney.^[5] As of June 2021, Friedman had over 300,000 followers on his PitchingNinja Twitter account.^[6] Friedman's PitchingNinja account has been referred to as "one of baseball’s most famous social media accounts" and "more formidable accounts in the baseball world."^{[7] [8]}

Major League Baseball dispute and resolution[]

In 2018, Friedman was briefly suspended from Twitter by Major League Baseball and Twitter, due to a copyright dispute,^[9][10] but eventually was reinstated and hired as an analyst for Major League Baseball, in what was seen as a potential change for baseball's restrictive social media policy.^[11][12][13] Since Friedman's reinstatement, his work has been featured on MLB.com^{[14][15][16][17][18]}

Pitching Analyst[]

Friedman creates pitching analysis videos and GIFs on Twitter and is a pitching analyst for ESPN Sunday Night Baseball, ESPN College Baseball and Major League Baseball.^[19] An ESPN article previewing the 2019 Major League Baseball Post-Season referred to certain pitchers as 'PitchingNinja Bait" meaning "A pitcher whose pitches are so unrepentantly sexy they are likely to be turned into GIFs by invaluable Twitterer, @pitchingninja."^[20]

During the 2019 season, Friedman also contributed to a weekly segment for "Changeup" on DAZN with Cespedes Family BBQ featuring each week's Major League Baseball pitching highlights and also a weekly segment for ESPN Sunday Night Baseball.^{[21][22][23][24]}

Friedman's analysis has frequently been used by journalists and media outlets to help visually illustrate the pitches of major league pitchers.^{[25][26][27][28][29]} Additionally, his work has also been credited by Major League and Minor League pitchers in helping them develop and refine their pitches.^{[30][31][32][33][34][35]} In 2020, Jake Diekman credited Friedman with helping him develop his Slider on through interactions on Twitter^[36] Yu Darvish also credited Friedman with helping improve his Slider (baseball)^[37]

Friedman also gave the nickname "Airbender" to Devin Williams' changeup, which was called baseball's most "absurd" pitch.^[38][39] Friedman's coverage of Williams was credited with helping Williams win the National League's Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award.^[40]

Friedman's pitching analysis style has been described as "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."^[41]

Friedman was included in the Topps 2020 Allen And Ginter Baseball Card series due to his contributions to Baseball as a Pitching Analyst.^[42]

Friedman's PitchingNinja Twitter account was recognized by ESPN as helping to drive change in baseball's culture by adding flair and individuality to the game,^[43] and was #30 on the "67 Things Baseball Fans Can Be Grateful for in 2020" in Sports Illustrated.^[44]

At the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Friedman convinced Liam Hendriks to throw a Knuckleball in exchange for a donation to charity, which was considered the 6th biggest All Star moment.^[45]

PitchingNinja's FlatGround accounts[]

In January 2019, Friedman started FlatGroundapp with a focus on pitchers getting recruited and scouted through social media.^[46][47][48] Friedman's FlatGroundApp account has been cited as a new development in baseball recruiting and scouting.^[49][50][51] FlatGround is followed by many Major League Baseball executives, which allows players to get free exposure.^[52]

Some of the professional pitchers who have credited Friedman and FlatGround with helping them get noticed by Major League affiliated organizations include: Justin Topa,^[53] Taylor Grover,^[54] Chris Dula,^[55] Chris Nunn,^{[56][57][58][59]} Nathan Patterson,^[60] Tyler Gillies,^[61] Casey Crosby,^[62] D. J. Snelten^[63] and Jordan Brink. ^{[64][65][66][67][68][69][70]} In August 2019, Nathan Patterson's signing received coverage by national publications, where Patterson mentioned that the exposure he received due to a Viral video^[71][72] on FlatGroundapp and PitchingNinja assisted him in signing a professional contract with the Oakland Athletics.^{[73][74][75][76][77][78]} Patterson's signing has been referred to as Friedman's "most public success story."^[79]

Additionally, in early 2019, a young baseball player, Jax Nystrom, who was highlighted on Friedman's FlatGroundBats account was contacted by Alex Bregman to hit with him in Spring Training, which was featured on MLB.com as well as other publications.^[80][81][82]

Friedman has been one of Trevor Bauer's biggest supporters over the years. His unwavering support of Bauer was rewarded when Bauer's Watch Momentum company sponsored Friedman's Pitching Ninja show. Bauer and Friedman have also co-branded together.

References[]