One of 2025’s bright spots for Atlanta will take the mound in Arlington
One of 2025’s bright spots for Atlanta will take the mound in Dallas as we are really just running out the clock on the season at this point as far as team success goes. Frustration is palpable at the team’s continued impotence, as illustrated by Spencer Strider seemingly chewing out the team’s hitting coaches during Friday night’s loss. There are still individual player storylines worth watching and draft lottery odds at stake, but it is all-but guaranteed for this to be a lost season in what is supposed to be a championship window with a lot of change coming in the next 6 months for the franchise.
You good, Spencer Strider?
(H/T: @MinSub4) pic.twitter.com/rRQVz4eVed
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) July 26, 2025
Holmes has been a perfectly fine back of the rotation starter for the Braves this season, as Ivan and myself predicted him to be an under-the-radar breakout candidate preseason. One could quibble with that, as he may end up with less fWAR than last season, but taking the step up to a starter’s workload at a respectable level is quite valuable in its own right. His diving slider and hard curveball continue to carry his success and it’s easy to see him having a ton of success if he ever gets the chance to just pitch one time through the order on a consistent basis.
On the other side, one of the more well-known college draftees in recent years, Kumar Rocker will take the mound for Texas. After looking like a potential number one overall pick, falling a bit, being drafted by the Mets, and ultimately going unsigned by New York, Rocker was drafted again the next year third overall in a stunner underslot pick by Texas. He has dominated the minors in the short time he has spent there, but has not found his footing at the major league level through 67.1 innings, made worse by some bad HR/FB luck. He has struggled to strike hitters out this season, though his average whiff rate and above average chase rate would seemingly point to a higher true strikeout ability than his strikeout rate has shown in 55.2 innings this year. He has a deep slider and a lot of arm-side run on his four-seamer, but six more-or-less normally shaped pitches with some pretty good velocity and extension.
Rocker isn’t a particularly formidable pitcher for the Braves’ offense to face at this stage in his career and one could reasonably call this a pitching advantage for Atlanta, but the Braves’ offense is just so unreliable this season that who knows what to expect.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Saturday, July 26, 7:05 p.m. EDT
Location: Globe Life Field, Arlington, TX
TV: FanDuel Sports Network South / Southeast, MLB Network (out-of-market only)
Radio: 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM