The Texas Rangers are calling up right-handed pitcher Kumar Rocker for Thursday, the club announced Monday. He’ll start against the Mariners in his MLB debut.
Rocker starred for Vanderbilt from 2019-21 as one of college baseball’s best pitchers. He was speculated as a possible No. 1 overall pick on a few occasions and he ended up being selected 10th overall in 2021 by the Mets. A tentative agreement was reached between the Mets and Rocker’s representatives, but after the Mets reviewed his medicals, things fell apart.
Instead of going back to Vanderbilt, Rocker decided to head to independent ball and ended up having shoulder surgery that fall. He was then selected third overall by the Rangers in the 2022 draft. Shortly thereafter, he’d undergo Tommy John surgery.
Rocker worked 28 innings in High-A last season and has fully been on the comeback trail this year with stops in rookie ball, Double-A and Triple-A. In 36 2/3 innings, he has a 1.96 ERA, 0.79 WHIP and 55 strikeouts against five walks. He struck out 10 in five innings of one-hit ball in his Triple-A debut.
The Rangers are hot right now — having won 10 of their last 13 games — but remain 6 1/2 games out of a playoff spot with several teams in the way. That is to say, they aren’t going to make the playoffs, so laying the groundwork for next season is a big goal the rest of the way. Seeing what they might have in Rocker here is part of that equation.
The Rangers are in Seattle on Thursday and that’s one of the best pitching environments in the league, so the chances of a soft landing here for Rocker are pretty decent.
