CINCINNATI -- When the Rangers opened the season with a pair of rookies in Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker in the rotation, president of baseball operations Chris Young emphasized that both earned the position, while also noting that the life of a starting pitcher in the big leagues isn¡¯t always smooth sailing.
¡°It's not just about making the Opening Day club,¡± Young said. ¡°It's what we do from here, moving forward. There are going to be bumps in the road for these guys. They¡¯re young pitchers. That's normal. I certainly remember how hard it was to go through those times. They¡¯re great competitors, and they are only going to get better.¡±
The first bump in Rocker¡¯s road came on Monday, when he allowed six runs in three innings as the Rangers lost, 14-3, to the Reds in his first start of the season.
¡°It was one of those games that just started out bad and gradually got worse,¡± manager Bruce Bochy said. ¡°Our guy just made some mistakes down the middle with the fastball, and had trouble getting the breaking ball over at times. We made too many mistakes ahead in the count, too. We just didn't pitch well. Of course, the bats were quiet, too. It just didn't go well tonight.¡±
From the very first batter of the game -- when Rocker got up 0-2 and TJ Friedl singled -- everything was a little bit off. Rocker threw 74 pitches, 45 for strikes, but five of the seven hits he allowed had exit velocities of 100 mph or more. Four of those were the first four batters of the game, all off of Rocker¡¯s four seamer.
¡°The fastballs, they were on it,¡± Bochy said. ¡°They were mistakes. He has a good fastball, but if the location is better, they don't quite get hit like that. They were middle-middle. If you live in the nitro zone, it doesn't matter how hard you throw, you gotta stay ahead. Those are just mental mistakes more than anything.¡±
Rocker said that he felt good physically and mechanically, but he felt like he didn¡¯t mix his pitches up enough early in the game in order to keep the hitters off balance.
They put good swings on balls and racked up the hits before Rocker could even make an adjustment.
¡°I¡¯ve just gotta be better,¡± Rocker said. ¡°I didn't put the team in a position to win tonight. That's all on me. I¡¯m just gonna work these next five days and try to win another ballgame here soon.¡±
If there is any silver lining to be found it¡¯s that this is just Rocker¡¯s fourth big league start and his 20th professional outing since the Rangers selected him at No. 3 overall in the 2022 MLB Draft.
Rocker has shown that he¡¯s willing and able to handle those bumps and bruises that young pitchers go through.
After Tommy John surgery in May 2023, Rocker returned to the mound on July 5, 2024, posting a 1.96 ERA over 10 games between the Arizona Complex League, Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Round Rock.
He made his MLB debut on Sept. 12, allowing one run over four innings with seven strikeouts against the Mariners at T-Mobile Park. He finished the year with a 3.86 ERA across his first three big league starts. He came into Spring Training in prime position to compete for a spot in the rotation come Opening Day.
Rocker struggled with some mechanical issues throughout Spring Training, but seemed to straighten things out across his final starts in the Cactus League. He eventually earned his way onto the Opening Day roster, though his path was no doubt made easier following the injuries to Cody Bradford and Jon Gray.
¡°Every game you hope you learn something about what you could have done differently,¡± Bochy said of Rocker. ¡°That's how we get better. I'm sure he'll reflect and we'll talk to him. I'm sure the nerves were going a little bit his first start. But that's going to happen with these young guys. It's going to be a bumpy road at times, and hopefully he learns from this. Hopefully he goes out there with the mentality that he¡¯s going to get these guys out and make pitches.¡±