Derek VanRiper

@dvr.bsky.social

11334 Followers 554 Following

Rates & Barrels host at The Athletic | (he/him)

AQI map for Thursday, July 16th showing extremely pool air quality for the upper midwestern US.
Topps Bob Ross “The joy of baseball” card featuring Roki Sasaki, with the Happy Mistake twist.
FanGraphs leaderboard of the Top-20 qualified pitchers in baseball through July 10th, 2026.
FanGraphs leaderboard of the Top-20 qualified position players in baseball through July 10th, 2026.
Screengrab of Stefan Heck’s old post about a mysterious old lady flipping over a tarot card revealing a dude who looks exactly like him flying a hot air balloon into power lines which prompts him to ask ‘is that good?’.
episode thumbnail for the July 7th episode of rates & barrels featuring Cam Schlittler.
Episode thumbnail for the June 24th installment of Rates & Barrels featuring Reds infielder Sal Stewart. Stewart photo credit: Adam Hunger/Getty Images
Thumbnail for the June 10th episode of Rates & Barrels featuring A's outfielder Lawrence Butler.
Utter nonsense.
Electric hat giveaway from Nationals Park with a white hat, red bill that says 'Bad Day to be a hot dog'.
Hot Dog Fries, from Nationals Park in 2026 with a chipotle dipping sauce. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
Absolutely bungled intro text from the automated transcript of a recent episode of Rates & Barrels.
Episode thumbnail for the May 14th episode of the Rates & Barrels podcast featuring Khn de Poitrine and Yu Darvish.
thumbnail for the May 12th episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Framber Valdez's May 5th line against the Red Sox. He was ejected from the game.
A robot with googly eyes patrols the beverage aisles of a Woodman’s in suburban Madison.
Thumbnail for the April 27th episode of Rates & Barrels featuring former Red Sox manager Alex Cora. Thumbnail Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Screenshot of a Google search that pushed AI results that revealed a long string of 9s instead of actual information.
Nolan Ryan's 19-strikeout, 10-walk, 13-inning outing against the Red Sox from June 14th, 1974. (source: B-Ref, Stathead)
Episode thumbnail for the April 16th Rates & Barrels featuring Guardians pitcher Parker Messick. Photo Credit: Luke Hales/Getty Images
Location heat map for Trevor Megill's four-seamer (2026). It's not great.
Episode thumbnail for the April 14th episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony.
Episode thumbnail for the April 9th episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara. Thumbnail Credit: Carmen Mandato/Getty Images
Episode thumbnail for the April 8th episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Cubs pitcher Cade Horton. Horton photo credit: Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images
Episode thumbnail for the April 7th episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Ken Griffey Jr. and Bryce Harper. Thumbnail Credits: Allsport/Getty Images (Griffey Jr.) & Harry How/Getty Images (Harper)
Episode thumbnail for the April 6th episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Angels outfielder Jo Adell. Photo credit: Ryan Sirius Sun/Getty Images
Episode thumbnail for the April 3rd episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Twins pitcher Taj Bradley. Photo credit: Ellen Schmidt/Getty Images
Episode thumbnail for the April 2nd episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin. Thumbnail Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Episode thumbnail for the March 31st episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki. Photo credit: Luke Hales/Getty Images
Episode thumbnail for the March 30th episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Twins manager Derek Shelton. Photo credit: Jamie Sabau/Getty Images
Rates & Barrels episode thumbnail for March 27th captioned 'Why the rookies look ready' and featuring Mets outfielder Carson Benge. photo credit: Ishika Samant/Getty Images
One man on the left is in disbelief, hands covering his face, while a second on man on the right explains his everyday use of old internet technology.
Griffin Jax throws a fastball that hits catcher Nick Fortes (in one-knee down catching position) in the worst possible location.
Episode thumbnail for the March 26th (Opening Day 2026) episode of Rates & Barrels. Thumbnail Credit: Patrick McDermott/Getty Images
episode thumbnail for the March 24th episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Mets outfielder Juan Soto. Thumbnail Credit: Joe Sargent/Getty Images
Episode thumbnail for the 2026 Bold Predictions episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Yordan Alvarez. Photo Credit: Steph Chambers/Getty Images
episode thumbnail for the March 20th episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill. Thumbnail Credit: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
thumbnail image of Ronald Acuña Jr. from the March 19th episode of Rates & Barrels with the caption 'let's beat the projections' photo credit: Edward M. Pio Roda/Getty Images
Picture of a mural in Chicago featuring barrel man.
Episode thumbnail for the Mar. 12th episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Ronald Acuña Jr., and Shohei Ohtani. Thumbnail Credits: Carmen Mandato/Getty Images (Acuña & Soto), Alex Slitz/Getty Images (Judge), Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images (Ohtani)
Thumbnail for the Mar. 10th episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Team USA pitcher Paul Skenes. Thumbnail photo credit: Alex Slitz/Getty Images
Episode thumbnail for the March 9th episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Puerto Rico & Darrell Hernaiz celebrating their walk-off win over Panamá during pool play of the World Baseball Classic on Saturday. photo credit: Al Bello/Getty Images
Episode thumbnail for the March 4th episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Kyle Schwarber, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Eno Sarris wearing sunglasses. Thumbnail photo credits: Mike Carlson/Getty Images (Schwarber) & Jeremy Chen/Getty Images (Yamamoto)
Episode thumbnail for the March 2nd episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and José Ramírez. Kent. J. Edwards/Getty Images (Soto), Mark Blinch/Getty Images (Guerrero Jr.), Griffin Quinn/Getty Images (Ramírez)
Episode thumbnail for the Feb. 27th episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Roman Anthony, Tarik Skubal, and Byron Buxton. Photo Credit: Michael Reaves/Getty Images (Anthony), Stacy Revere/Getty Images (Skubal), Stacy Revere/Getty Images (Buxton)
Episode thumbnail for the Feb. 26th Rates & Barrels featuring Mick Abel. Mick Abel photo: Emilee Chinn/Getty Images
Episode thumbnail for the Feb. 25th episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Rays third baseman Junior Caminero. Junior Caminero Thumbnail Photo Credit: Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Episode thumbnail for the Feb. 24th episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez. Alvarez photo: aAlex Slitz/Getty Images
Episode thumbnail for the Feb. 23rd Rates & Barrels featuring the Yankees, A's and Angels team previews Thumbnail Credit: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images (Trout), Al Bello/Getty Images (Judge), Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images (Kurtz)
Episode thumbnail for the Feb. 20th episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Jackson Merrill, Elly De La Cruz & Michael Busch. Thumbnail Photo Credits: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images (Jackson Merrill), Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images (Elly De La Cruz), Daniel Bartel/Getty Images (MIchael Busch)
Episode thumbnail for the Feb. 17th episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio, and Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson. Thumbnail Photo Credits: John Fisher / Getty Images (Jackson Chourio), Ishika Samant / Getty Images (Gunnar Henderson), Alex Slitz / Getty Images (Ezequiel Tovar)
Episode thumbnail for the February 16th episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Ketel Marte, Bobby Witt Jr. and Ronald Acuña Jr. Thien-An Truong/Getty Images (Ketel Marte), Ronald Martinez/Getty Images (Bobby Witt Jr.), Edward M. Pio Roda/Getty Images (Ronald Acuña Jr.)
Episode thumbnail for the Feb. 11th episode of Rates & Barrels featuring D-backs outfielder Corbin Carroll. Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images
Rates & Barrels episode thumbnail for February 9th featuring Padres closer Mason Miller. Mason Miller Thumbnail Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Episode thumbnail for the Feb. 4th episode of Rates & Barrels featuring Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski. Misiorowski Photo: John Fisher/Getty Images