Kumar

Rocker

Rocker managed to keep Toronto’s offense in check until Myles Straw put a ball in the left-center field gap for an RBI double in the fifth inning. Fortunately, reliever Tyler Alexander was able to come on an prevent any further damage. He finished with two strikeouts and also handed out a pair of free passes. The 26-year-old former top prospect holds a pedestrian 4.47 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 134/59 K/BB ratio across 143 innings this season. He’ll presumably get the ball to close out the regular season against the Mets on Thursday. That could change depending on what the Rangers need to do to secure a playoff spot.

Rocker gave up two hits, walked two and struck out five. He pitched fairly well, but was pulled after four innings and 65 pitches. Rocker has a 4.54 ERA. He’s lined up to face the Blue Jays at home next week, but he doesn’t need to be rostered in most fantasy leagues.

Working behind a pair of openers, Rocker struggled mightily here. Jonathan Aranda hit a mammoth 412 foot home run on the fifth pitch he threw and the Rays wound up putting six runs on the board over the first three innings he worked. He didn’t command his sinker well and it got lit up for four hits on four hard-hit balls and he scrapped it after his first time around Tampa’s lineup. Overall, things have not gone well for Rocker in a while and he has a 6.75 ERA over seven starts since August first. He’s scheduled to face the Mariners in Seattle next time out.

86 pitches to get nine outs. Rocker struck out seven of the 17 batters he faced today, but four walked and the six who put the ball in play against him collected four singles. Rocker finishes August with a 6.00 ERA, 31 strikeouts and 17 walks in 27 innings over six starts. It’d seem to be time to try him in relief if either Nathan Eovaldi or Jack Leiter were ready to return, but since they’re clearly not, Rocker should face the Rays next weekend.

Rocker should have given up a two-run homer to Andrew Benintendi in the first, but Brandon Nimmo made a terrific catch in right to bring it back. Rocker did give up a two-run homer to Tristan Peters the following inning, but he locked in after that in winning for the first time in five starts this month. It’s the second time this year that he’s struck out eight, and he’s now 5-10 with a 4.41 ERA overall. Rocker figures to make his next start Sunday in Milwaukee.

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.