Kumar

Rocker

Rocker pitched well overall here despite nibbling far too much early on. He threw 80 pitches through four innings and had to work hard for every out because he was reluctant to throw it in the zone with a barely 40% zone rate and only 11 first-pitch strikes out of the 22 batters he faced. Still, his slider was nasty forcing six whiffs and helped him out of a few jams. On the season, he has a 4.46 ERA, 109 strikeouts, and 48 walks through 121 innings. He’s scheduled for a two-start week coming up against both the Brewers and White Sox on the road.

Rocker was better than usual about avoiding hard contact tonight, allowing him to survive while walking five. Still, there’s no real excuse to be walking five against this A’s lineup in the first place. The no-decision keeps Rocker 4-9 with a 4.50 ERA and a 106/47 K/BB in 116 innings. He’ll face the Nationals next week.

It was his shortest outing since May 2. Rocker gave up two runs in the first inning, a result of him failing to cover first base after Jake Burger made a diving play. It would get worse in the second inning, as he served up homers to Colton Cowser and Pete Alonso. Rocker was pulled after issuing a leadoff walk in the fourth inning. The loss dropped him to 4-9 on the year while his ERA shot back up to 4.46. That’s the highest it’s been since mid-May. Rocker will try to get back on track against the injury-riddled A’s in his next start, but it’s a tough assignment in Sacramento.

Rocker had pretty awful luck today, and he did well to limit the damage to three runs. He actually allowed just four hard-hit balls, and the big blow, Jeremy Peña’s two-run homer to left in the fourth, would have been a double or maybe even a single in the majority of ballparks. Rocker struck out five and walked two. He’ll face the Orioles next weekend. He remains a mediocre option in mixed leagues.

Rocker leaned on his slider today, recording all seven of his strikeouts with the pitch. He got 12 whiffs on 22 swings at that offering and just two on 24 swings when he threw anything else. He’s won back-to-back starts to move to 4-8 with a 4.03 ERA on the season. That’s good enough for him to continue to stick as a starter, but with just the one truly above average pitch at his disposal, it’s still hard not to wonder if he’d be better utilized as a short reliever. He’ll go for three wins in a row Sunday in Houston.

Rocker struck out six and walked two in his fifth scoreless start of the year. The victory was his first since May 19 and third overall against eight losses this year. He’ll try to build on the positive effort against the Rays in a road start on Tuesday.

Rocker gave up eight hits, walked two and struck out six. He fell to 2-8 with the loss. Rocker was done in by the home run as all seven runs he allowed came on the three home runs he allowed. His ERA is up to 4.40 heading into the All-Star break.

Rocker allowed five hits, one walk and struck out four. He gave up a pair of runs on a two-run homer from Riley Greene, and two more in the fifth in a shaky outing for the 26-year-old. Rocker has a 2-7 record on the season with the loss, but he’s pitched better than that for the majority of the campaign. He’ll look to bounce back in his final first-half start against the Astros at home come Saturday.

Rocker will receive an extra day of rest with Cal Quantrill being moved up to take the ball on Saturday afternoon against Detroit. The 26-year-old has strung together back-to-back strong outings, striking out 14 batters and allowing just two runs over 11 innings against the Blue Jays and Marlins in his last two starts. There’s some definite streaming appeal for fantasy managers in deeper mixed leagues based on his recent efforts.

Rocker was brilliant against the Blue Jays on Sunday. He scattered four hits and one walk, with just two runners reaching scoring position against Rocker. He tossed 60 of 92 pitches for strikes and struck out five batters. The 26-year-old right-hander will take a 3.83 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, and a 70/31 K/BB ratio across 80 innings into a start against the Tigers in Texas on Saturday.