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The Chicago White Sox starting rotation has, surprisingly, been one of the more incredible stories to start the season.
Through 28.2 innings pitched through Tuesday, they've allowed just two earned runs, 13 hits and 12 walks on 22 strikeouts. This is undoubtedly a bright spot for a team that was supposed to look like— and may still be — trash.
If there's one place in the baseball world that appreciates this kind of understated dominance, it's on the social media feed of Rob Friedman, better known as Pitching Ninja, and he's sure done hisbesttohighlight the Sox rotation during the first week of the season.
Which is why it seemed a bit bizarre that Chicago's TV play-by-play announcer, John Schriffen, would take a shot at Pitching Ninja following a segment on Tuesday where sideline reporter Brooke Fletcher mentioned how much the players love the account.
Schriffen's response was seemingly to immediately dismiss it all — which Friedman noticed, of course.
However there's a few things happening here that require some more context. It's not that Schriffen hates Pitching Ninja — it's that he more or less hates social media in general. Which makes sense, because White Sox fans online have not been too kind to the 40-year-old who took over for the beloved Jason Benetti last year, while Schriffen hasn't really been too kind in response to the (often valid) criticism he's received.
Before the 2025 season began, Schriffen told the Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan he might have come in a little too hot last year and felt a competitive need to fight back against his naysayers.
“A lot of (the pushback) was early on and I was still listening to and reading a lot of things about myself,” Schriffen told Sullivan. “It was a new experience for me. I don’t read a lot of stuff anymore. I don’t listen to stuff anymore."
So when Schriffen said Pitching Ninja "won't be my source", he means because he won't be on baseball twitter — which is a problem for other reasons, but not worth diving into here. By Wednesday afternoon, Friedman posted that Schriffen reached out to apologize for his remark and to clear the air, but that's not quite the end of the story.
In between Schriffen's viral remarks and his apology, White Sox senior pitching advisor Brian Bannister took to Twitter to praise Friedman in direct response to the clip.
What makes this all extremely awkward is the fact the White Sox broadcast just mentioned how often their pitchers are looking at Friedman's account — meaning they will absolutely see that he posted a clip of Schriffen appearing to rip them for it.
On the bright side, Schriffen likely won't see or read any of this and that's probably the best for everyone.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: White Sox broadcaster apologizes for weirdly ripping Pitching Ninja
Continue reading...
Through 28.2 innings pitched through Tuesday, they've allowed just two earned runs, 13 hits and 12 walks on 22 strikeouts. This is undoubtedly a bright spot for a team that was supposed to look like— and may still be — trash.
If there's one place in the baseball world that appreciates this kind of understated dominance, it's on the social media feed of Rob Friedman, better known as Pitching Ninja, and he's sure done hisbesttohighlight the Sox rotation during the first week of the season.
Which is why it seemed a bit bizarre that Chicago's TV play-by-play announcer, John Schriffen, would take a shot at Pitching Ninja following a segment on Tuesday where sideline reporter Brooke Fletcher mentioned how much the players love the account.
Schriffen's response was seemingly to immediately dismiss it all — which Friedman noticed, of course.
However there's a few things happening here that require some more context. It's not that Schriffen hates Pitching Ninja — it's that he more or less hates social media in general. Which makes sense, because White Sox fans online have not been too kind to the 40-year-old who took over for the beloved Jason Benetti last year, while Schriffen hasn't really been too kind in response to the (often valid) criticism he's received.
Before the 2025 season began, Schriffen told the Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan he might have come in a little too hot last year and felt a competitive need to fight back against his naysayers.
“A lot of (the pushback) was early on and I was still listening to and reading a lot of things about myself,” Schriffen told Sullivan. “It was a new experience for me. I don’t read a lot of stuff anymore. I don’t listen to stuff anymore."
So when Schriffen said Pitching Ninja "won't be my source", he means because he won't be on baseball twitter — which is a problem for other reasons, but not worth diving into here. By Wednesday afternoon, Friedman posted that Schriffen reached out to apologize for his remark and to clear the air, but that's not quite the end of the story.
In between Schriffen's viral remarks and his apology, White Sox senior pitching advisor Brian Bannister took to Twitter to praise Friedman in direct response to the clip.
What makes this all extremely awkward is the fact the White Sox broadcast just mentioned how often their pitchers are looking at Friedman's account — meaning they will absolutely see that he posted a clip of Schriffen appearing to rip them for it.
On the bright side, Schriffen likely won't see or read any of this and that's probably the best for everyone.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: White Sox broadcaster apologizes for weirdly ripping Pitching Ninja
Continue reading...
