Latest news with #Athletics
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
MLB's Brent Rooker Hits Back After Fan Criticizes Him for Feeding His Baby Daughter During the Home Run Derby
NEED TO KNOW Brent Rooker is pushing back after a fan criticized him for feeding his daughter on live TV The Athletics player was competing in the Home Run Derby and fed his daughter a bottle on the sidelines Rooker shares two girls with his wife, Allie Oliver Brent Rooker is hitting back after a fan criticized him for feeding his daughter on live TV. The Athletics player responded to a post on X after a fan called him out for giving his 11-month-old daughter, Blake Eloise, a bottle live on camera during the 2025 Home Run Derby on Monday, July 14. Advertisement "Hey you really need to feed your baby on camera? Sometimes people just want to see you play," the fan wrote. "Yes, it was necessary to feed my 11 month old child her night time bottle at like 9:00 pm," the dad of two hit back. "Thank you for asking." In a photo shared from the event on X by Yahoo Sports, the MLB player can be seen holding his daughter in his arms and feeding her a bottle while sitting on the sidelines. The Home Run Derby, meanwhile, is the MLB's annual home run hitting competition, which serves as the lead-up to the MLB All-Star Game on July 15. Rooker represented the Athletics during this year's competition. Advertisement Rooker, 30, shares both Blake and daughter Blair Evelyn, 3, with his wife, Allie Oliver. After the event, Rooker shared a joint post on Instagram with his team, which featured a photo of his family of four. The professional athlete could be seen sitting against the sidelines, holding baby Blake. Brent Rooker during the Home Run Derby on July 14, 2025 Brent Rooker during the Home Run Derby on July 14, 2025 Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Allie posed on the other side of Blake, wearing a hat with her husband's last name on it. On the other side of Rooker, Blair wore pink headphones and titled her head to the side for the photo. Advertisement "Proud of our guy," the Athletics captioned the post. Last August, Rooker announced that he and Oliver welcomed Blake in a post on Instagram. "We are thrilled to have welcomed Blake Eloise into the world on 8/14/24," he wrote in his caption. "Allie, Blair and I are already so in love with our newest addition." Read the original article on People
Hamilton Spectator
a day ago
- Sport
- Hamilton Spectator
In an era prizing velocity, more than 20,000 curveballs a year have disappeared from MLB
ATLANTA (AP) — Curveballs have been thrown a curve by a modern game valuing velocity over variety, disappearing from the major leagues by more than 20,000 annually. The Athletics have thrown curves on just 2.5% of pitches this season. The overall big league figure dropped from 10.7% in 2019 to 8.1% last year, the lowest since MLB starting tracking in 2008, before rising slightly to 8.5% this season. There were 22,962 fewer curveballs in 2024 than five years earlier. 'You don't really see a lot of people throwing 12-6 curveballs anymore,' Tampa Bay pitcher Shane Baz said. 'They'd rather have a hard cutter/slider. It's a lot easier for guys to throw a sweeper than it is a 12-6 curveball.' Baz's 28.1% is seventh in curveball use among those who have thrown at least 1,000 pitches this season. Baltimore's Charlie Morton, first at 39%, learned to throw a hook from his dad. 'He was reading some article or maybe he was reading some pitching book,' Baltimore's 41-year-old right-hander said. 'You basically throw it like you're re-throwing a knife.' Curveballs have been around for a century and a half Hall of Famer Candy Cummings, a 145-game winner, is credited with inventing the curveball in 1863 when he was 14, discovering the movement when he threw sea shells into the Atlantic Ocean. Some attribute the curve to amateur pitcher Fred Goldsmith in 1870. With an average velocity of 80.2 mph, curves are the slowest and loopiest of breaking pitches, often disrupting the timing of batters set for smoke. The phrase 'thrown a curveball' has become part of the English language, much like 'screwball,' more a phrase than a pitch these days. Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan and Clayton Kershaw were among the consummate curveballers, bamboozling batters as balls they gave up on dropped like hang gliders into the strike zone. 'It's become an industry of throwing over pitching,' New York Yankees senior adviser Omar Minaya said. 'When you pitch, you use different pitches. What we're seeing in the industry as a whole, especially with showcases, is people are looking more at velocity than pitchability — as a scout, I said that unfortunately.' Former pitcher Dallas Braden, now a broadcaster, longs for those days of deception. 'You almost sympathize with the hitter in the moment because you're like: Damn, I couldn't have hit that. He couldn't hit that. Nobody could have hit that,' Braden said. 'The eephus is now almost like as close as we get, when a position player is on the mound, to an aesthetically pleasing pitch like that, just the visual presentation of the pitch starting in the clouds and ending up at the ankles.' Nike's 'Chicks Dig the Long Ball' commercial defined baseball in the Steroids Era. These days the slogan might as well be: 'Velo Rules!' There were just 214 pitches of 100 mph or more in 2008. There were a record 3,880 two years ago and this year is on track for 3,252. In tandem, starting pitcher use has dropped. Starters have averaged just under 5 1/3 innings this season, down from 6 1/3 innings in the 1980s. Their pitch count averages 85.7, down from 97 in 2010 Throw as hard as you can for as long as you can is the mantra Average four-seam fastball velocity is a record 94.4 mph this season, up from 91.9 mph when MLB started tracking in 2008. But fastballs — four-seam, two-seam and cutters, have dropped from 62.1% to 55%. Those missing hooks and heaters have been replaced by sliders, sweepers and slurves. They are 22.6% of pitches this year, up from 13.9% in 2008, and their average velocity has risen to 84.8 mph from 83.4 mph. Colorado throws curves the most often at 15.6%, not that it has brought any success to a team that entered the break at 22-74, on track for a 37-125 finish and the post-1900 record for losses. The Athletics haven't thrown 10% curveballs since 2017. 'If you look around the game, swing and miss has taken more of a priority, so guys are trying to throw more sweepers with more horizontal movement, or they're trying to throw the slider really hard at the bottom of the zone,' Athletics pitching coach Scott Emerson said. 'They're worried about contact with the curveball.' Generational change in the 2020s Veteran pitchers note the curve's decline as youngsters integrate into staffs. 'As you're an amateur going to the big leagues guys are looking at velo. Guys are just looking at stuff,' Yankees ace Gerrit Cole said. 'Velo is important and it pays.' Maybe because the pitchers who throw curves are committed, batters have a .225 average this season on curves, down from .263 on fastballs and up slightly from .222 on sliders, sweepers and slurves. 'That's just how the game is trending: to throw it as hard as you can, spin it the best you can and hope the hitter doesn't hit it,' Emerson said. 'The hitters are up there trying to swing as hard they can. If they hit it with hard contact, make 27 swings that are really hard, you got a chance to hit a homer here and there. And it's taken away from the contact-type pitchers.' ___ AP Baseball Writer Janie McCauley contributed to this report. ___ AP MLB:
NBC News
a day ago
- Sport
- NBC News
As pitchers chase higher velocity, the curveball is disappearing from MLB
ATLANTA — Curveballs have been thrown a curve by a modern game valuing velocity over variety, disappearing from the major leagues by more than 20,000 annually. The Athletics have thrown curves on just 2.5% of pitches this season. The overall big league figure dropped from 10.7% in 2019 to 8.1% last year, the lowest since MLB started tracking in 2008, before rising slightly to 8.5% this season. There were 22,962 fewer curveballs in 2024 than five years earlier. "You don't really see a lot of people throwing 12-6 curveballs anymore," Tampa Bay pitcher Shane Baz said. "They'd rather have a hard cutter/slider. It's a lot easier for guys to throw a sweeper than it is a 12-6 curveball." Baz's 28.1% is seventh in curveball use among those who have thrown at least 1,000 pitches this season. Baltimore's Charlie Morton, first at 39%, learned to throw a hook from his dad. "He was reading some article or maybe he was reading some pitching book," Baltimore's 41-year-old right-hander said. "You basically throw it like you're re-throwing a knife." Curveballs have been around for a century and a half Hall of Famer Candy Cummings, a 145-game winner, is credited with inventing the curveball in 1863 when he was 14, discovering the movement when he threw seashells into the Atlantic Ocean. Some attribute the curve to amateur pitcher Fred Goldsmith in 1870. With an average velocity of 80.2 mph, curves are the slowest and loopiest of breaking pitches, often disrupting the timing of batters set for smoke. The phrase "thrown a curveball" has become part of the English language, much like "screwball," more a phrase than a pitch these days. Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan and Clayton Kershaw were among the consummate curveballers, bamboozling batters as balls they gave up on dropped like hang gliders into the strike zone. "It's become an industry of throwing over pitching," New York Yankees senior adviser Omar Minaya said. "When you pitch, you use different pitches. What we're seeing in the industry as a whole, especially with showcases, is people are looking more at velocity than pitchability — as a scout, I said that unfortunately." Former pitcher Dallas Braden, now a broadcaster, longs for those days of deception. "You almost sympathize with the hitter in the moment because you're like: Damn, I couldn't have hit that. He couldn't hit that. Nobody could have hit that," Braden said. "The eephus is now almost like as close as we get, when a position player is on the mound, to an aesthetically pleasing pitch like that, just the visual presentation of the pitch starting in the clouds and ending up at the ankles." Nike's "Chicks Dig the Long Ball" commercial defined baseball in the Steroids Era. These days, the slogan might as well be: "Velo Rules!" There were just 214 pitches of 100 mph or more in 2008. There were a record 3,880 two years ago and this year is on track for 3,252. In tandem, starting pitcher use has dropped. Starters have averaged just under 5 1/3 innings this season, down from 6 1/3 innings in the 1980s. Their pitch count averages 85.7, down from 97 in 2010 Average four-seam fastball velocity is a record 94.4 mph this season, up from 91.9 mph when MLB started tracking in 2008. But fastballs — four-seam, two-seam and cutters, have dropped from 62.1% to 55%. Those missing hooks and heaters have been replaced by sliders, sweepers and slurves. They are 22.6% of pitches this year, up from 13.9% in 2008, and their average velocity has risen to 84.8 mph from 83.4 mph. Colorado throws curves the most often at 15.6%, not that it has brought any success to a team that entered the break at 22-74, on track for a 37-125 finish and the post-1900 record for losses. The Athletics haven't thrown 10% curveballs since 2017. "If you look around the game, swing and miss has taken more of a priority, so guys are trying to throw more sweepers with more horizontal movement, or they're trying to throw the slider really hard at the bottom of the zone," Athletics pitching coach Scott Emerson said. "They're worried about contact with the curveball." Veteran pitchers note the curve's decline as youngsters integrate into staffs. "As you're an amateur going to the big leagues guys are looking at velo. Guys are just looking at stuff," Yankees ace Gerrit Cole said. "Velo is important and it pays." Maybe because the pitchers who throw curves are committed, batters have a .225 average this season on curves, down from .263 on fastballs and up slightly from .222 on sliders, sweepers and slurves. "That's just how the game is trending: to throw it as hard as you can, spin it the best you can and hope the hitter doesn't hit it," Emerson said. "The hitters are up there trying to swing as hard they can. If they hit it with hard contact, make 27 swings that are really hard, you got a chance to hit a homer here and there. And it's taken away from the contact-type pitchers."
NBC Sports
a day ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Curveballs are disappearing in MLB as velocity obsession reshapes pitching landscape
ATLANTA — Curveballs have been thrown a curve by a modern game valuing velocity over variety, disappearing from the major leagues by more than 20,000 annually. The Athletics have thrown curves on just 2.5% of pitches this season. The overall big league figure dropped from 10.7% in 2019 to 8.1% last year, the lowest since MLB starting tracking in 2008, before rising slightly to 8.5% this season. There were 22,962 fewer curveballs in 2024 than five years earlier. 'You don't really see a lot of people throwing 12-6 curveballs anymore,' Tampa Bay pitcher Shane Baz said. 'They'd rather have a hard cutter/slider. It's a lot easier for guys to throw a sweeper than it is a 12-6 curveball.' Baz's 28.1% is seventh in curveball use among those who have thrown at least 1,000 pitches this season. Baltimore's Charlie Morton, first at 39%, learned to throw a hook from his dad. 'He was reading some article or maybe he was reading some pitching book,' Baltimore's 41-year-old right-hander said. 'You basically throw it like you're re-throwing a knife.' Curveballs have been around for a century and a half Hall of Famer Candy Cummings, a 145-game winner, is credited with inventing the curveball in 1863 when he was 14, discovering the movement when he threw sea shells into the Atlantic Ocean. Some attribute the curve to amateur pitcher Fred Goldsmith in 1870. With an average velocity of 80.2 mph, curves are the slowest and loopiest of breaking pitches, often disrupting the timing of batters set for smoke. The phrase 'thrown a curveball' has become part of the English language, much like 'screwball,' more a phrase than a pitch these days. Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan and Clayton Kershaw were among the consummate curveballers, bamboozling batters as balls they gave up on dropped like hang gliders into the strike zone. 'It's become an industry of throwing over pitching,' New York Yankees senior adviser Omar Minaya said. 'When you pitch, you use different pitches. What we're seeing in the industry as a whole, especially with showcases, is people are looking more at velocity than pitchability — as a scout, I said that unfortunately.' Former pitcher Dallas Braden, now a broadcaster, longs for those days of deception. 'You almost sympathize with the hitter in the moment because you're like: Damn, I couldn't have hit that. He couldn't hit that. Nobody could have hit that,' Braden said. 'The eephus is now almost like as close as we get, when a position player is on the mound, to an aesthetically pleasing pitch like that, just the visual presentation of the pitch starting in the clouds and ending up at the ankles.' Nike's 'Chicks Dig the Long Ball' commercial defined baseball in the Steroids Era. These days the slogan might as well be: 'Velo Rules!' There were just 214 pitches of 100 mph or more in 2008. There were a record 3,880 two years ago and this year is on track for 3,252. In tandem, starting pitcher use has dropped. Starters have averaged just under 5 1/3 innings this season, down from 6 1/3 innings in the 1980s. Their pitch count averages 85.7, down from 97 in 2010. Throw as hard as you can for as long as you can is the mantra Average four-seam fastball velocity is a record 94.4 mph this season, up from 91.9 mph when MLB started tracking in 2008. But fastballs — four-seam, two-seam and cutters, have dropped from 62.1% to 55%. Those missing hooks and heaters have been replaced by sliders, sweepers and slurves. They are 22.6% of pitches this year, up from 13.9% in 2008, and their average velocity has risen to 84.8 mph from 83.4 mph. Colorado throws curves the most often at 15.6%, not that it has brought any success to a team that entered the break at 22-74, on track for a 37-125 finish and the post-1900 record for losses. The Athletics haven't thrown 10% curveballs since 2017. 'If you look around the game, swing and miss has taken more of a priority, so guys are trying to throw more sweepers with more horizontal movement, or they're trying to throw the slider really hard at the bottom of the zone,' Athletics pitching coach Scott Emerson said. 'They're worried about contact with the curveball.' Generational change in the 2020s Veteran pitchers note the curve's decline as youngsters integrate into staffs. 'As you're an amateur going to the big leagues guys are looking at velo. Guys are just looking at stuff,' Yankees ace Gerrit Cole said. 'Velo is important and it pays.' Maybe because the pitchers who throw curves are committed, batters have a .225 average this season on curves, down from .263 on fastballs and up slightly from .222 on sliders, sweepers and slurves. 'That's just how the game is trending: to throw it as hard as you can, spin it the best you can and hope the hitter doesn't hit it,' Emerson said. 'The hitters are up there trying to swing as hard they can. If they hit it with hard contact, make 27 swings that are really hard, you got a chance to hit a homer here and there. And it's taken away from the contact-type pitchers.'
Fox Sports
a day ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
MLB 2025 Home Run Derby: Predictions, Participants, Odds
With Cal Raleigh threatening a Barry Bonds record and Aaron Judge making dinger history , the 2025 MLB season has already basically been a Home Run Derby, just unofficially. On Monday night we'll get the real thing, when eight players face off in the annual All-Star Game event at the home of the Braves, Truist Park. Will Big Dumper continue to dominate? Will Oneil Cruz leverage that 6-foot-7 frame into more homers than anyone? Will Braves' slugger Matt Olson give the hometown fans something to cheer about? Let's dive in and see who's in the 2025 Home Run Derby, their chances of winning are and some predictions. Participants Cal Raleigh, Mariners (38 HRs) Raleigh is leading the majors in home runs, and also hit the second-most of anyone in MLB history before the All-Star break — just one behind Barry Bonds' 39 in 2001, which still left Raleigh with the AL record. Whether that will translate into Derby dingers remains to be seen, but there's no doubting his power. This is the third season in a row that the Mariners' catcher has hit at least 30 home runs, and in just four full seasons in the majors, he's gone yard 131 times. DraftKings odds: +295 (bet $10 to win $39.50 total) Oneil Cruz, Pirates (16 HRs) While Cruz's career-high in home runs is 21, he's already gone yard 16 times in 2025. Plus, if you've ever looked at him before, then you've got a pretty good idea about how much power is locked away in him: Cruz stands 6-foot-7 and weighs 240 pounds. Not only that, but when he crushes a ball, he crushes it: he set a record for exit velocity on a home run in 2022, which stood until 2025… when Cruz himself broke it with the hardest hit ball you've ever seen . Letting a guy like that into Derby is a potential treat for us all. DraftKings odds: +330 (bet $10 to win $43 total) James Wood, Nationals (24 HRs) The Nationals' young phenom has played in just over a season's worth of games in the majors. In those 174 contests, he's gone deep 33 times, and is on pace for 40 homers this year alone. The 22-year-old hasn't been around the game as long as his competitors, but he's already got the bonafides to make you believe he can cause some real damage at the Derby. DraftKings odds: +450 (bet $10 to win $55 total) Matt Olson, Braves (17 HRs) Matt OIson is in his second Derby. Despite hitting 23 homers in the first round back in 2021, when Olson was still with the Athletics, he lost to Trey Mancini's 24. And while he might not sound that exciting with just 17 home runs this year compared to Raleigh's 38, Olson is still on pace for his fifth 30-homer season, and led the majors with 54 in 2023. DraftKings odds: +800 (bet $10 to win $90 total) Brent Rooker, Athletics (20 HRs) Brent Rooker is the first Athletics player in the Home Run Derby since Olson's turn in 2021, and he's got legitimate pop. Rooker has gone yard 20 times already in 2025, and hit 30 and 39 homers in the previous two seasons, despite playing his home games in the cavernous Coliseum in Oakland before the A's moved to their temporary home in Sacramento. DraftKings odds: +850 (bet $10 to win $95 total) Byron Buxton, Twins (21 HRs) Byron Buxton has had a serious resurgence in his power in 2025: his career-high in homers is 28, and he's at 21 already this summer. Health has long been the issue for the Twins' outfielder, but he's played in 78 games in '25, and is showing off what he can do when he's on the field. That could translate into far more homers than you'd think just given the raw numbers from his career. DraftKings odds: +950 (bet $10 to win $15 total) Jazz Chisholm Jr., Yankees (17 HRs) People think Aaron Judge when Yankees with power come up, but Jazz Chisholm is no slouch. He has been New York's second-best hitter so far in 2025, and has hit 17 long balls in just 65 games. His first full season with the Yankees has been a memorable one so far, and mashing his way through the Home Run Derby would only add to that. DraftKings odds: +1100 (bet $10 to win $120 total) Junior Caminero, Rays (23 HRs) If Junior Caminero has any real faults in his game, they're due to being just 21 years old and in his first full season in the majors. Even with that context, though, the Rays' slugger has already hit 23 homers in 2025 and 30 in 141 career MLB games, and unlike with pitchers in the regular season, no one at the Derby is going to try to find any holes in his swing. DraftKings odds: +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total) Predictions Most Total Home Runs: Oneil Cruz is going to look like he's taking batting practice out there, even more than is usual for the Derby. Most Home Runs in a Round: Jazz Chisholm Jr. is going to absolutely lock in at some point, and it's going to be the round of the evening. Home Run Derby Winner: Cal Raleigh is going to bat left-handed – his best side – in a park that favors lefties. This is his Derby to lose. Darkhorse candidate: Junior Caminero has tremendous power tucked away in Tampa Bay, and is going to surprise a lot of people at the 2025 Derby. The 2025 Home Run Derby begins at 8 p.m. ET on Monday, July 14th. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! recommended Item 1 of 3 Get more from the Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
