Kumar Rocker Dazzles In Big League Debut

Kumar Rocker used his dastardly slider to keep Mariners hitters mostly at bay in his MLB debut. The Rangers righty, who surged to No. 29 in our recent Top 100 update amid a strong second half, struck out seven batters over four innings while allowing just one run, a fourth-inning solo homer to Justin Turner. His 17 swings and misses were fourth-most among big leaguers Thursday and 13 came against his slider. As he has for much of the season, Rocker mostly relied on the combination of his upper-90s heater and wicked slider to get batters out.