Latest news with #Sterner
Fox Sports
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
2025 MLB rookie power rankings 2.0: Who takes the top spot one month in?
Our preseason Major League Baseball rookie power rankings were based primarily on the players we expected to make an immediate impact. Now, after more than a month of action on the field, the top 10 list looks a lot different. Kristian Campbell and Jacob Wilson have emerged as the top rookies on the diamond, but the rest of the players on the list below may come as more of a surprise. Of course, plenty of time remains for some of MLB's top prospects to either get the call or find their rhythm. For now, though, here are the latest FOX Sports rookie power rankings. (Note: The rankings below will be updated once a month throughout the season.) Honorable mentions It's not often we're discussing a 35-year-old rookie, but Sugano is building a strong argument for a spot on this list. His 3.00 ERA is tied for second among rookies who've made at least five starts and stands out in the Orioles' dismal rotation, but the underlying numbers — a 5.11 FIP, 5.45 expected ERA, .297 expected batting average against and an overall inability to miss bats — suggest regression ahead. Ramírez already has 11 extra-base hits in just 53 at-bats, leading all rookies with a .963 OPS. He has only played in 14 big-league games, which is why he hasn't quite cracked the top 10 yet, but he'll find his way on it in short order if he keeps this up. Gusto, an 11th-round pick in 2019, is emerging as a valuable swingman in Houston. Opponents are hitting just .151 with 15 strikeouts against his four-seamer. The top 10 10. AJ Smith-Shawver, SP, Atlanta Braves We're early enough into the season that eight innings of one-hit ball on Monday, which dropped Smith-Shawver's ERA down to 3.00, warrants the final spot on the list. 9. Justin Sterner, RP, Athletics Sterner and Mariners closer Andres Muñoz are the only MLB pitchers who haven't allowed an earned run in more than 15 innings of work this year. Control can sometimes be an issue for Sterner, but opponents have just seven hits against him in 18.2 innings. He hasn't allowed a single barreled ball this year and leads all rookies in Baseball Reference's version of WAR (1.3), and the underlying numbers support his dominance. Sterner has the lowest expected batting average and expected slugging percentage against of any qualified MLB pitcher. 8. Jake Mangum, OF, Tampa Bay Rays Mangum ranks in the top three in WAR and steals and top 10 in hits and OPS among all rookie position players despite being out since April 24. The 29-year-old is finally getting his first opportunity in the big leagues, and despite going on the injured list with a groin sprain, the 2019 fourth-round pick delivered immediate production. His plus speed, miniscule strikeout rate and above average outfield defense have all stood out quickly, but he'll probably need to return to the field before next month to maintain a top-10 spot. 7. Ben Casparius, SP/RP, Los Angeles Dodgers A year after being thrust into postseason duty, Casparius is taking on an unexpected role again early this season, needing to provide bulk innings for another decimated Dodgers rotation. And he is producing. The 2021 fifth-round pick is 4-0 with a 2.81 ERA and a 1.99 FIP that is the best mark among all qualified rookie pitchers. He has 28 strikeouts and just five walks in 25.2 innings, putting him in the top five among rookie pitchers in strikeout-to-walk ratio. Righties are slashing just .186/.197/.254 against him. 6. Kameron Misner, OF, Tampa Bay Rays Misner has fallen off over the last couple of weeks, but those types of lulls can be expected for a rookie with some swing-and-miss in his game. He still ranks second in extra-base hits, fourth in slugging percentage and fWAR and fifth in hits among qualified rookie position players, and his strong defense adds to his value when he's not swinging a hot bat. 5. Luisangel Acuña, 2B, New York Mets OK, so we had a decent idea that last season's small sample where he hit three homers in 14 games was not really indicative of the type of offensive profile to expect from Acuña, but he continues to hit for a high average and make an impact on the basepaths. The reigning NL Rookie of the Month is tied for second among qualified rookies in steals and third in batting average. His low strikeout rate gives him a chance to use his wheels. 4. Chad Patrick, SP, Milwaukee Brewers The reigning International League Pitcher of the Year won the Triple-A Triple Crown last year, but it wasn't until this year that the 26-year-old made his big-league debut. Patrick worked his way into the Brewers rotation as injuries ravaged the group, and he has helped stabilize the unit with a 3.08 ERA. He leads all rookie pitchers in fWAR and has allowed three runs or fewer in all seven of his starts, most recently delivering a quality start Tuesday against the Astros. 3. Shane Smith, SP, Chicago White Sox The top pick in the Rule 5 Draft, Smith leads all rookies — both position players and pitchers — in bWAR. His 2.41 ERA and .207 batting average against are both the best marks among all qualified rookie starters. Even though he doesn't rack up strikeouts, the right-hander's extensive arsenal gives him the weapons to limit damage against both righties (.632 OPS) and lefties (.532). He has surrendered just one home run all season, has gone at least five innings in six of his seven starts and has not allowed more than three earned runs in an outing this year. 2. Kristian Campbell, 2B, Boston Red Sox Campbell is earning the eight-year extension he signed early last month and rewarding Boston's faith after they made him the everyday second baseman from the jump. He leads all qualified rookies in slugging, OPS, doubles and walks. The underlying numbers are encouraging as well. A strikeout rate of over 25% in the early going is somewhat mitigated by a 15% walk rate that's nearly double the league average. The 22-year-old reigning AL Rookie of the Month was at Georgia Tech just two years ago and is already more than holding his own in the big leagues. 1. Jacob Wilson, SS, Athletics Is it too early to definitively declare that Wilson will be the rookie hit leader this year? He already has 15 more hits than the next closest rookie and also leads all qualified rookies in batting average (.341) and RBI (20). Most amazingly, in over 140 plate appearances, Wilson has just six strikeouts and six walks. The 23-year-old will put the ball in play, and it's fair to say the 2023 No. 6 overall pick's contact skills — which helped him hit over .400 in two minor-league seasons — are translating at the highest level. Also considered: Roki Sasaki (SP, Los Angeles Dodgers), Jackson Jobe (SP, Detroit Tigers), Edgar Quero (C, Chicago White Sox), Chandler Simpson (OF, Tampa Bay Rays), Chase Meidroth (SS, Chicago White Sox), Jasson Dominguez (OF, New York Yankees), Dylan Crews (OF, Washington Nationals), Cam Smith (OF, Houston Astros), Jack Leiter (SP, Texas Rangers), Jack Dreyer (RP, Los Angeles Dodgers), Drake Baldwin (C, Atlanta Braves), Tim Tawa (2B, Arizona Diamondbacks) recommended Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more in this topic
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
New book profiles Indiana veterans, including those from Logansport, Kokomo, Peru
A new book, 'Beyond Belief: True Stories of Indiana Heroes that Defy Comprehension,' profiles over 200 Indiana veterans ranging from the Civil War to the War on Terror. It includes a forward from Senator Todd Young. Compiled by the husband-and-wife team of C. Douglas and Pamela M. Sterner, the 500-plus page book features veterans from across the state including Logansport, Kokomo and Peru. The book is the 120th that C. Douglas Sterner has worked on and is an anthology. Sterner said he wrote 70 percent of the profiles inside it and has a team that helps him. He stressed focus on the book, the ninth in a series he hopes will include all 50 states, should be on the veterans and not the people who assemble the collection of profiles. Previous books were more focused on a specific branch of the military but he was inspired to do statewide collections when he wanted to write about the two men, one an army veteran and the other a Navy petty officer, who stopped a mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs. 'I was going to write their story but it didn't quite fit the format of my books so I decided I was just going to do a book on Colorado heroes,' Sterner said. The book opens with Lieutenant Richard Antrim, a native of Peru, Indiana. Sterner chose Antrim's story to open the book because it was a story that had stuck with him for 27 years. Antrim received multiple military honors for his bravery and leadership during WWII and as a Japanese prisoner of war for over three years. 'We think of heroes as being the guy who goes and knocks out a machine gun nest,' Sterner said. 'What Richard Antrim did was just an amazing act to save the life of a fellow soldier.' He said that his desire to share Antrim's story was one of the reason Indiana was one of the first 10 books in the series. Antrim's story began when he saved all but one of his crew members from the sinking U.S.S. Pope. The crew drifted in life boats for three days only to be found by a Japanese warship and taken prisoner. One story of bravery had Antrim convincing his Japanese captors of a better way to construct trenches. From the surface, Antrim's work looked good but when flying overhead, one could see the series of trenches spelled out U.S. Thus, Allied fighter pilots knew not to bomb the site because there were prisoners below. Many of Antrim's fellow prisoners recalled a night in April of 1942 when Antrim watched one of his men receive a severe beating for a perceived slight from a Japanese guard. Antrim begged for mercy toward his friend only to see the Japanese soldiers decide to have a trial. The Japanese soldiers decided Antrim's friend was indeed guilty and would now receive 50 lashes. As Antrim proceeded to watch the soldiers beat his friend, he reportedly raised his voice and demanded that he receive the remainder of his friend's lashes. The unexpected show of strength rattled the guards and the beating seized. The story goes that the POWs received better treatment for some time following the incident. Antrim was also present at the Hindenburg disaster prior to the war. The book details other Hoosier heroes such as Logansport's Ora J. Cohee. Cohee, a 1905 Logansport High School graduate, was a first lieutenant and chaplain for the 34th Infantry Regiment when he was deployed to France in 1918. He saved two soldiers during a battle by carrying one over his shoulder while helping carry a stretcher with his free hand. He would go on to serve in WWII as Theater Chaplain for the Pacific Ocean areas. Cohee became known as Indiana's Fighting Chaplain. Raymond Lanterman was an artist who graduated Kokomo High School in 1934. In 1940, he left his art career behind in Chicago and returned to Kokomo to enlist. He was assigned to the Schofield Barracks in Hawaii where he was a witness to the Pearl Harbor bombing on Dec. 7, 1941. Lanternman felt his art background would prove useful in mapmaking and engineering and he was sent to the Corps of Engineers School in Virginia. He was one of the first soldiers to land on the beaches on D-Day with the mission to clear mines and obstacles for the incoming infantry. When Lanternman witnessed one of his engineers shot while working to create a safe passage for the soldiers, he ran out into the open beach to continue doing the engineer's work until he, too, was struck down by gunfire. He survived and that night he was finally able to be evacuated to safety. Other local and regional heroes featured in the book include William Kepner (Kokomo), William Horney (Logansport), Hiram Bearss (Peru), Thomas Garigan (Winamac) and Paul Carlton (Bunker Hill). Sterner said the Indiana book brought a couple of surprises that hadn't happened before. One, a veteran's daughter contributed her father's story to the book. Crawfordsville's Michael Shropshire, Indiana's first highly decorated veteran during the War on Terror, also provided a first-person account of his experiences. It took approximately two months to compile the book. He hopes to publish two books in the series per year. Sterner and his crew's efforts have already led to one of the Hoosier heroes receiving a new honor. Logansport's Cohee will become the oldest member of the Logansport High School Military Wall of Honor. Cohee passed away in 1960 while living in Texas. Sterner served in Vietnam and two months after he returned home, he discovered his best friend, Specialist Fourth Class Jaime Pacheco of Hobb, New Mexico, had been killed in combat. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star. 'I was determined to make sure he was never forgotten,' he said. 'It was my motivation to start doing these other stories. I've been told this is how I deal with my PTSD by writing the stories of my comrades to make sure they are never forgotten. Those interested in ordering a copy of 'Beyond Belief: True Stories of Indiana Heroes that Defy Comprehension' may do so by visiting The book is also available on Amazon for $19.95.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Yahoo
Foster child death linked to state-contracted home prompts criminal investigation
The state has shut down a residential treatment center in northeast Texas, three months after one of its charges — an 11-year-old boy — died in an incident that foster care officials and local law enforcement are investigating. The boy died in a Greenville movie theater during an outing the day before Thanksgiving, according to three people who are familiar with the investigations. Other boys who lived at the center told Joe Sterner, the Lone Oak school district's police chief, that the boy had complained about a stomach ache and had sustained a head wound in recent days. 'I guess when they were about to head out to go to the movies, he was in the bathroom, crying real bad that he was hurting real bad and they still told him to get on the van,' Sterner said. It is not known if the child died from an underlying illness related to stomach pain or from a wound that he had on his head before he entered the Greenville movie theater. The boy and his fellow housemates watched the movie and by the time it ended, the child was dead, one of the people familiar with the case said. 'The lights came up and the child had blood coming down his nose and he was deceased,' said one source, who spoke on condition that their name not be used because they do not want to hurt their professional relationship with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, which oversees the state's foster care system operations. It is not clear if Thompson's staff members who accompanied the children to the movie theater, sought medical treatment for the child. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, which oversees licensing of foster care facilities, said Thursday that Thompson's Residential Treatment Center license has been revoked. 'HHSC determined Thompson's Residential Treatment Center posed an immediate threat to the health or safety of children,' Jennifer Ruffcorn, commission spokesperson said in an email. DFPS moved quickly to terminate its contract with Thompson's Residential Treatment Center, but the action was also made quietly following dozens of previous deficiencies alleged in state records and by nearby residents. The residential treatment facility, or RTC, where the boy was staying is one of dozens contracted with the state to house and treat the most traumatized and mentally ill foster care children. News of the child's death surfaced publicly for the first time Monday at a Senate Finance Committee hearing focused on the state budget. DFPS and the Hunt County Sheriff's Department are each investigating the boys' death. Both agencies declined to publicly speak about their separate inquiries. A DFPS spokesperson confirmed that the boy, whose name has not been released, died on Nov. 27. The death occurred six weeks after the state won a legal battle in federal court that removed the judge presiding over a 14-year lawsuit against Texas' child welfare system. The Tribune made several unsuccessful attempts to reach the facility. Public records suggest it is owned by Chaun Thompson, who spent seven years in the NFL playing first for the Cleveland Browns, then the Houston Texans until he was sidelined by an injury in 2009. He also could not be reached. The Tribune was able to reach Julie Fox, who according to LinkedIn, was Thompson's treatment director from November 2009 through December 2024, but she declined to comment. The Tribune learned of the child's death from a passing comment made by state Sen. Angela Paxton more than two hours into Monday's Senate Finance Committee hearing. Senators and Texas Health Commissioner Cecile Young and her chief financial officer, Trey Wood, were discussing a budget proposal that would add regulatory staff for inspections of long term care providers. 'Tragically, in my district, there was an 11-year-old boy who passed away this past November while he was under the care of a licensed residential treatment center which has since had its license revoked and children placed in other centers,' Paxton said at the 2:23 mark of that hearing. 'The investigation is ongoing so I will not speak to particulars of the case but I would like to just chime in on this issue as it is something very tangible and concrete in my district,' she said. Paxton declined to comment further to the Tribune. All 20 children who were living at Thompson's were removed within a week of the death and placed elsewhere, according to the agency. Interviews and a search of public records and news accounts show the facility has had problems of varying severity over the last several years. Children have been injured and there have been multiple calls for service made to the facility, which consists of two large houses side-by-side along Farm to Market Road 1564, southeast of Greenville in Hunt County. One local law enforcement officer, who asked not to be named, said it was known as 'the runaway center' because of how often police are asked to locate its residents who have run away from the facility. The state maintains a database that lists deficiencies at residential treatment centers over a 5-year period. Thompson's had 84 reported deficiencies with more than a third of them reported in the past year and 12 of them were considered the most severe. There were 117 reports, 1 assessment, 10 self-reported incidents and 69 inspections. Notably, the state visited the facility one day before the boy's death and found no deficiencies, according to the state database. Among the more serious deficiencies at Thompson's listed in the state's database include: On Aug. 4, 2023, a child was able to leave the facility because he was not properly supervised. On Aug 14, 2023, a caregiver grabbed a 14-year-old by the neck. On Nov. 1, 2023, a staffer 'engaged in a physical altercation with a 17 year old child in care. The staff actions placed the child at risk for significant harm.' On April 22, two children were involved in a fight leaving one with a black eye. On June 16, the facility failed to follow a child's treatment plan. The day before it was reported that staff failed to intervene in an altercation that resulted in a child being hurt. On July 26 and July 2, it was reported a child received a cut under his eye as a result of an altercation with another child. On Aug. 2, the facility did not restrict duties for provisional employees and supervision rules were violated. On Sept. 19, two unsupervised residents got into a fight at the facility. Thompson's file is also filled with several reports of holes left unrepaired in the walls and exposed wiring, broken windows and broken blinds. Coverage from the local newspaper, Herald Banner, also chronicled serious problems over the years. In February 2020, two boys ran away from Thompson's and were on their own for weeks before being located, according to the paper's reporting. On April 18, 2015, Hunt County sheriff's department sent deputies to investigate an alleged sexual assault of a child by a staff member there, the paper said. On March 22, 2011, the news outlet reported deputies investigating an attack on staff by several of the boys living there. The Tribune has filed a request for all calls to the sheriff's office. Residential treatment centers are inspected, licensed and monitored by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Depending on the level of care needed, the state pays residential treatment facilities between $52.71 to $480.86 per child per day. The agency did not release on Thursday how much it paid Thompson to run the center. It is not unusual for foster care children to run away from residential treatment centers or engage in physical altercations with each other and staff. The chronic issues found at the more than 80 residential treatment centers statewide are often subjects of the 14-year lawsuit against the Texas' foster care system. Since 2019, the state foster care system has been found in contempt of the court three times for failing to follow U.S. District Judge Janis Jack's orders to fix deficiencies. At the center of the battle are the roughly 9,000 children in permanent state custody, removed from their homes due to abuse at home, complex health needs that parents are unable to manage, or the loss of their family caregivers, among other circumstances. Many of the most vulnerable children have been left in dangerous placements including residential centers with poor supervision, the court has found. The last time a child placed in a residential treatment center died was in 2021. The reason facilities tend to locate in rural areas, former long-time Hunt County commissioner Phillip Martin said, is because there are less stringent regulations in unincorporated areas than locating inside a city. Martin said rural communities need to consider how much pressure such a facility — one that houses children with behavior issues — puts on local resources, particularly its public school system and its law enforcement. 'Yet again, the state is shutting down a dangerous facility after another tragedy. Innocent children are still dying in state care,' said Paul Yetter, the attorney for the plaintiffs in the 14-year foster care lawsuit against DFPS. 'This is not a safe system.'
