Mariners
AD
6, Rangers 0
- After an exciting trade deadline, that was a bit of a letdown.
- You kind of want to chalk this one up to getting in at 3:30 a.m. in the morning, as there apparently were plane issues that delayed their departure from Anaheim Wednesday night.
- Kumar Rocker made what likely was his last start in the bigs for the time being, and it was a reminder of why the Rangers felt they could upgrade his spot in the rotation. 91 pitches to get just 14 outs. 12 whiffs, which isn’t bad, but 21 foul balls, as he continues to have issues putting batters away.
- Through three Rocker was fine, allowing just one hit, albeit with a pair of walks. Seattle pushed one across in the fourth, on a double, a runner-advancing fly out, and a wild pitch, though Dominic Canzone, who was at the plate at the time, then singled, which would have scored the run anyway.
- The fifth inning saw someone named Cole Young go deep against Rocker to lead off the inning, with Cal Raleigh homering two batters later, and at least giving up a homer to Cal Raleigh is respectable. A two out single by Josh Naylor ended Rocker’s night.
- There was initially speculation that the addition of Merrill Kelly — who is apparently expected to start one of the games this weekend against Seattle — would push either Rocker or Jack Leiter to the bullpen. However, once Phil Maton was acquired, joining the also newly added Danny Coulombe, it would appear that there’s no room in the pen for one of the displaced starters. It also would appear that Rocker is going to be the guy to go to AAA.
- And that’s fine...he can stay stretched out there, and his innings can be managed in an environment where that’s easier to do than in a playoff race in the big leagues. Rocker is going to be expected to be in the rotation in 2026, and having him do work in the AAA rotation provides both insurance for the big league rotation now and better prepares him for next year.
- Down 3-0 after five was problematic, but Jacob Latz then gave up three runs in the bottom of the sixth, and that was pretty much church.
- Luis Curvelo made his major league debut, striking out three in two shutout innings, so that was cool.
- As for the offense...well, let’s not talk about that.
- Kumar Rocker’s sinker maxed out at 97.5 mph, averaging 96.4 mph, while his fastball topped out at 97.3 mph, averaging 96.3 mph. Jacob Latz touched 95.4 mph with his fastball. Luis Curvelo hit 97.2 mph with his sink.
- Marcus Semien had a 103.7 mph double. Wyatt Langford had a 103.5 mph ground out. Sam Haggerty had a 103.0 mph ground out. Evan Carter had a 102.1 mph lineout.
- Three more games in Seattle. Let’s win a couple of them.
