Cubs (Brown) vs Rangers (Rocker): 5/8/26, 7:05pm

[Brock Beauchamp]

Alright, so now it's on to the Rangers. How bullish are you on the Cubs right now, and what are your thoughts on Ben Brown long-term?

	SUN	MON	TUE	WED	THU	TOT
Trent Thornton	0	0	0	6	26	32
Ryan Rolison	0	14	18	0	0	32
Phil Maton	25	4	0	12	0	41
Javier Assad	0	0	17	0	0	17
Jacob Webb	0	0	17	14	0	31
Hoby Milner	15	12	0	25	0	52
Gavin Hollowell	0	0	0	0	49	49
Daniel Palencia	0	0	15	0	7	22
Ben Brown	0	25	0	0	0	25

[mk49]

If Ben can improved his changeup, he could be really good.

[BKHoo]

I'm still perturbed we had to use Palencia yesterday. 

[BKHoo]

Rocker is still more “high-upside young arm” than established frontline starter, but the talent is real. He throws hard, has a wipeout slider when it’s working, and was one of the most dominant college pitchers in years. The issue has been consistency, command, and health. He had Tommy John surgery in 2023 and struggled at times in his first extended MLB action in 2025, posting a 5.74 ERA.

This season has been mixed so far. There are signs of improvement — especially with composure and expanding his pitch mix — but he’s still prone to hard contact and short outings.

For the today, the expectation should be:

• They’ll probably see good velocity early.
• If Rocker’s slider is sharp, he can dominate for stretches.
• But he can lose the zone and run up pitch counts.
• Left-handed hitters and patient at-bats are usually the recipe against him.
• The Cubs should have opportunities by the middle innings if they avoid chasing.

He’s the kind of pitcher who can either strike out 8 in six innings or be out by the fourth inning after a couple crooked numbers. Right now, he’s more volatile than reliable.

[Rcal10]

2 minutes ago, BKHoo said:

Rocker is still more “high-upside young arm” than established frontline starter, but the talent is real. He throws hard, has a wipeout slider when it’s working, and was one of the most dominant college pitchers in years. The issue has been consistency, command, and health. He had Tommy John surgery in 2023 and struggled at times in his first extended MLB action in 2025, posting a 5.74 ERA.

This season has been mixed so far. There are signs of improvement — especially with composure and expanding his pitch mix — but he’s still prone to hard contact and short outings.

For the today, the expectation should be:

• They’ll probably see good velocity early.
• If Rocker’s slider is sharp, he can dominate for stretches.
• But he can lose the zone and run up pitch counts.
• Left-handed hitters and patient at-bats are usually the recipe against him.
• The Cubs should have opportunities by the middle innings if they avoid chasing.

He’s the kind of pitcher who can either strike out 8 in six innings or be out by the fourth inning after a couple crooked numbers. Right now, he’s more volatile than reliable.

Rocker struggles in the 1st inning. 9 runs allowed in 6 first innings. Get on him early. 

[Bertz]

Texas has to this point in the season been the worst team in the league against LHP.  And that tracks too when you think about Seager, Joc, Nimmo, etc.

Basically I think you let Brown go as far as he can, then you hand it over to Rolison for as far as he can go, and then you either go Wicks if things are going poorly or to your short relievers if they're going well.  Save Assad for later in the weekend when you need length?

[Rcal10]

7 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Texas has to this point in the season been the worst team in the league against LHP.  And that tracks too when you think about Seager, Joc, Nimmo, etc.

Basically I think you let Brown go as far as he can, then you hand it over to Rolison for as far as he can go, and then you either go Wicks if things are going poorly or to your short relievers if they're going well.  Save Assad for later in the weekend when you need length?

Has Wicks been called up? I didn’t see that.