Rocker's resilience leads him to promotion to Rangers

PHOENIX -- Kumar Rocker can’t help but feel a little anxious.

Standing in front of his locker Wednesday in the visitors’ clubhouse at Chase Field, where he joined the Rangers ahead of his highly-anticipated Major League debut on Thursday night in Seattle, Texas’ No. 2 prospect acknowledged those overwhelming emotions that come with fulfilling a lifelong dream.

“It’ll hit me maybe after the game,” Rocker said with a laugh.

But for Rocker, who has already faced so much adversity at the outset of his professional career, there’s little anxiety with regards to what he’s accomplished thus far. Only excitement. Because there’s no doubt that the 24-year-old, who was once viewed as one of the best college pitching prospects of his generation, has earned it.

• What to expect from Rocker in the Major Leagues

“He’s pitched well enough to be here,” Rangers general manager Chris Young said on Tuesday. “I think it’s great that we’re going to get him here and get him some experience, not knowing what that will mean for 2025, but certainly, if it goes well, him having the opportunity to compete for a spot in the rotation next year. I think the experience he’ll get this season will serve him very well.”

Even after Rocker logged a stellar 1.96 ERA across 10 Minor League appearances upon his return from Tommy John surgery, Young and the Rangers seemed set on letting him finish his season in the Minors before giving him a good long look next spring as a candidate for a spot in Texas’ 2025 rotation.

But Rocker forced their hand.

He made two starts following a promotion to Triple-A Round Rock in late August, allowing just four hits and two runs over 10 innings while punching out a whopping 18 batters, including a career-best 10 strikeouts on Aug. 28.

“I think you have to look at the body of work,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said Tuesday. “It’s really, really impressive. It’s something he’s earned and he’s a big part of the Rangers’ future. Why not give him some time up here?”

Now, after a long journey to the big leagues that included shoulder and elbow surgery and a stop in independent ball in 2022, among other bumps in the road, Rocker finds himself on the precipice of something he’s worked his whole life to see through.

“Any time I get a new challenge in front of me, I’m excited for it,” Rocker said. “Whether I conquer it immediately or it takes time, I’m always looking forward to the next one, especially in this game.”

Nobody in the Rangers’ clubhouse understands Rocker’s resilience better than his former Vanderbilt teammate and fellow first-round pick Jack Leiter, whom Rocker reunited with this week in Arizona.

The duo have leaned on each other heavily since they both shared the same weekend rotation in Nashville four years ago, leading the Commodores to the Men’s College World Series in 2021 at the height of their collegiate careers.

“Every healthy season Rock has had since probably sophomore year of high school has been dominant,” Leiter said. “It’s never really a doubt with him. It’s just fun to watch, it really is.

“He looks like the best version of himself that we’ve ever seen.”

After blowing out his elbow in High-A Hickory last season following just six starts in his first full Minor league season, it was perhaps reasonable to assume that even Rocker would need some time before rediscovering that elite version of himself upon his return to the mound earlier this summer.

But he didn’t.

He dominated his way through Double-A Frisco with a 0.46 ERA over five starts after a brief stint in the Arizona Complex League, and he maintained that level of success with Round Rock. It was only a matter of time before he took the next step -- the one he will take when he climbs the mound at T-Mobile Park on Thursday.

The reality of it hasn’t quite set in for Rocker, but regardless of how it goes for the promising right-hander, he recognizes his importance to the future of the Rangers, and he’s earned the right, at least right now, to be a part of their present.

“I can’t ask for much more,” Rocker said. “The game is what it is. I know you got to ride the wave to get here, so I’m really happy about it.”