Reds 14, Rangers 3
- That was ugly.
- Kumar Rocker got roughed up for the worst start of his professional career, due largely to his inability to elevate his fastball. Rocker’s fastball doesn’t have great movement, but it is effective if he keeps it up in the zone. For the most part on Monday, though, Rocker didn’t do that, instead putting most of his fastballs in the middle of the zone. When that happens, bad things are going to happen.
- Rocker’s slider was inconsistent, and he missed badly with it a few times, but when he missed badly it was generally well out of the strike zone, and he did generate 8 swings and misses on it out of 14 total swings, as well as getting five called strikes on it, out of 32 total sliders thrown.