Inbox: Could Rocker get a late call to Texas?

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ARLINGTON -- The Rangers have all but shifted their focus to 2025 as Houston (75-63) continues to pull away from both Seattle (69-70) and Texas (66-73) in the American League West standings. That means it is the perfect time for a few Inbox questions submitted via X as we gear up for the final month of regular-season baseball.

Any chance Texas calls up Kumar Rocker by the end of the season? -- @Shugarooo

Look, never say never. It’s hard not to get excited about a pitching prospect as electric as Rocker (the Rangers' No. 2 prospect, No. 97 overall) is right now.

After spending the first half of 2024 continuing his rehab from Tommy John surgery in Arizona, Rocker was promoted to Double-A Frisco on July 26, where he allowed one run over 19 2/3 innings (0.46 ERA) while racking up 29 strikeouts and just three walks. In his first Triple-A start, he tossed five scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts, and he was named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week.

But general manager Chris Young more or less said to pump the breaks a bit.

“We're going to have him on an innings limit, as we would any pitcher who's coming off surgery,” Young said. “We want to be responsible. That said, this is tremendous progress, and we're just thrilled with where he is right now. ... That’s just getting too far ahead right now though [when talking about the big leagues]. We just can't answer that question. He's had one Triple-A start. It's too far ahead.”

We’ll see Rocker in Arlington soon. It just might have to wait until April 2025.

Is the plan to DH Wyatt Langford next year or play him in the outfield every day? Since Evan Carter will presumably be back, what will the outfield look like next year? -- @BIGDOG31

The Rangers will have a lot of roster decisions to make this offseason, especially as it pertains to the outfield. And honestly, Texas should be in the market for a designated hitter as well.

But to your point, I think two major things will affect the outfield next season: Carter’s health, as he endures his second major back injury before he turns 22 years old, and Adolis García’s slight defensive regression in the outfield.

I think if Carter is fully healthy next season, he would get the majority of the center-field reps, with Langford remaining in left mostly and García standing pat.

The Rangers have remained behind Leody Taveras for four years now, hoping for him to reach his full potential. He’s shown flashes of it, no doubt, but he has never quite put it together consistently at the big league level. If Carter, Langford and García are all healthy, it wouldn’t be all that shocking to see Taveras shift into a fourth outfielder role.

What do you think the rotation will look like to open next year? -- @Buday93268144

Let’s start with a few locks: Right-handers Jacob deGrom, Jon Gray, Tyler Mahle and Jack Leiter (Texas' No. 4 prospect) and left-hander Cody Bradford.

That’s a fine rotation, but definitely injury prone, which seems to be the theme here in Arlington lately anyway. It would be irresponsible for the Rangers to not consider trying to re-sign postseason hero and pseudo ace Nathan Eovaldi, no matter how many starting pitchers they already have. He’s been, without a doubt, one of the best parts of this baseball team in his two years -- both on and off the field -- with his leadership and locker room presence.

If you’re six deep with deGrom and Eovaldi at the top, with Bradford and Leiter surging and Rocker waiting in the wings, that’s a pretty good rotation to me.