The Texas Rangers defense of their World Series title from last season hasn’t gone as expected in 2024. However, there is reason for optimism in 2025, especially after getting a glimpse of their potential future ace making his MLB debut on Thursday night.

Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman break down the performance from Kumar Rocker and his nasty slider that was on display en route to the Rangers win in Seattle. The guys also talk about why Rocker could be the future anchor of this rotation and get hyped about Jacob deGrom making his 2024 season debut on Friday night.

Also on this episode of the Baseball Bar-B-Cast, the guys talk about if Aaron Judge is losing ground in the AL MVP race due to his recent slump, the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves having to play some big series that could determine their postseason fates and make their picks for this week's edition of The Good, The Bad and The Uggla.

(1:22) - Jake’s wedding recap

(3:16) - Quick bits from around the league

(5:15) - Aaron Judge is slumping

(15:26) - Mets are looking good for the playoffs

(19:13) - Kumar Rocker debuts

(28:30) - The future of the Rangers' rotation

(36:50) - The Good

(41:34) - The Bad

(50:39) - The Uggla

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And check out Jake, Jordan & the show on X or Instagram:

🐦 @CespedesBBQ: https://twitter.com/CespedesBBQ

📷 @CespedesBBQ: https://www.instagram.com/cespedesbbq

⚾ @Jake_Mintz: https://twitter.com/Jake_Mintz

🧢 @J_Shusterman: https://twitter.com/j_shusterman_

Subscribe to Baseball Bar-B-Cast on your favorite podcast app:

🎧 Apple Podcasts

🎧 Spotify

🖥️ YouTube

📢 Check out the Yahoo Sports podcast network or yahoosports.tv

And check out Jake, Jordan & the show on X or Instagram:

🌤️ @CespedesBBQ: https://bsky.app/profile/cespedesbbq.bsky.social

🐦 @CespedesBBQ: https://x.com/CespedesBBQ

📷 @CespedesBBQ: https://www.instagram.com/cespedesbbq

⚾ @Jake_Mintz: https://x.com/Jake_Mintz

🧢 @J_Shusterman: https://x.com/j_shusterman_