With the 2024 regular season over, it is time for us to go back and take a look at the players who appeared for the Texas Rangers this season.

Today, we look at pitcher Kumar Rocker.

A graph of the outlook for Kumar Rocker during the 2024 season would look a lot like the graph of the Nvidia stock price over the last 30 months or so. Flat for a period of time, followed by a spike that was both steep and steady beginning about halfway through the year, ending with a slight dip that still reflects a high current value and substantial gains.

At the beginning of 2024, Rocker was recuperating from Tommy John surgery, and while this surgery has become routine in recent years, there is never a guarantee that a pitcher will make it back from TJS. Compounding the health concern for Rocker was that the New York Mets, who drafted him 10th overall in 2021, nixed a deal with him due to concerns over his medicals after a physical, with Rocker undergoing shoulder surgery after that.

Even before Tommy John surgery, there were concerns about the consistency of Rocker’s stuff. When he was at his best, Rocker had the stuff of a top of the rotation pitcher. However, at times while at Vanderbilt, there were periods where his velocity backed up, where he looked much more pedestrian. The combination of the injury concerns and the inconsistency meant there was a lot of variability in the possible outcomes for Rocker — even moreso than for the usual young pitcher, a category that is inherently extremely volatile anyway. Rocker had been added to the MLB Pipeline top 100 prospect list in 2023 literally on the day it was announced he needed Tommy John surgery — the sense was that he could return to top 100 status in 2024, or he could continue to battle injury issues, or he could be anywhere in between.

Through the spring and early summer, the reports were positive on Rocker’s progress. When it was learned he would make his first rehab appearance for the ACL Rangers on July 5, there was a great deal of anticipation, and despite his giving up a home run to the first batter he faced, the overall results — 3 Ks, no walks, just one hit besides the homer, 2 innings — were good, as were the reports from the eyes on the ground.

Rocker made two more rehab appearances in Arizona, facing eight batters and allowing a run on July 12, then facing seventeen batters in a longer stint on July 19 in an outing that looked bad in the box score — six runs on seven hits and a walk in three innings — but which we were told looked much better in person, with the hits all being singles, three of the runs being unearned, and the six spot being largely due to bad luck and bad defense.

Prior to his injury, Rocker had made just six pro appearances, all for high-A Hickory, so I figured he would return to Hickory when the Rangers decided he was ready to leave Arizona. It wouldn’t have been shocking, to me at least, if Rocker had gone to low-A Down East instead of Hickory, in an effort to ease him back as he continued his recovery.

Instead, for his fourth rehab start, his first outside of the complex, the Rangers sent him to AA Frisco. It seemed like an aggressive assignment, but Frisco was playing at home on July 26 — his scheduled start date — and having him pitch there would mean he would be in the Metroplex where the major league training staff is, as well as allowing the brass to lay eyes on him.

Rocker’s performance was electrifying. 10 batters faced, one hit allowed, four Ks. There were a number of folks who cover the Rangers there to watch, and they raved. As impressive as the box score was, the eye-witness reports were even better. Rocker appeared to be back, stuff as good as ever.

Rocker made four more appearances for Frisco. Each outing was a “mark on your calendars” event, eagerly anticipated, and Rocker responded every time. His third outing saw him strike out eight batters while walking none in four shutout innings, with 15 swinging Ks out of 52 pitches. He didn’t allow a run until his fourth outing, when he allowed one run on one hit and one walk.

After five appearances for Frisco, the Rangers promoted Rocker to AAA. His final AA line was 19.2 IP, 71 batters faced, 29 Ks, 3 walks, 9 hits, no home runs, one run allowed, a 0.46 ERA, and a .132/.169/.191 slash line.

The jump from AA to AAA is significant, particularly for pitchers, and particularly for pitchers who are going to the Pacific Coast League, one of the most hitter-friendly leagues there is. The hitters in AAA are more experienced, more advanced, and present more of a challenge. This was expected to be a big test for Rocker.

Rocker aced that test. In his first AAA appearance, Rocker went five shutout innings against the Dodgers’ AAA club. He retired 15 of 16 batters he faced, 10 by strikeout. He allowed one hit — a single and generated 15 swinging strikes on 67 pitches. His AAA debut couldn’t have gone any better.

Rocker followed that up with a start in Las Vegas, one of the most hitter-friendly parks in the minors. He gave up two runs on three hits — including a home run, the first allowed since that first pitch in his first rehab outing in Arizona — while striking out eight in five innings, walking one, and getting 16 swinging strikes out of 65 pitches.

The Rangers had seen enough. That was Rocker’s final AAA start. He was summoned to the big leagues after that.

Kumar Rocker’s major league debut was in Seattle on September 12, 2024. I am hard-pressed to think of a Ranger rookie pitcher whose debut was more eagerly anticipated that Rocker’s that day. The Rangers were pretty much out of the playoff race, fans had experienced a lot of disappointment throughout the season, and we were looking for something to feel good about. Kumar Rocker’s ascendence fit the bill, in spades.

And Kumar Rocker delivered. He didn’t dominate the way he did in the minors, of course. He gave up hits to the first two batters he faced, and we all started having uncomfortable Taylor Hearn in Seattle flashbacks. But he bounced back with a pair of Ks and a fly out to strand the pair in the first. He fanned a pair in the second. He walked a couple of batters in the third but stranded them. His fourth and final inning saw him start and end the inning with swinging Ks, and only a Justin Turner one out bomb in that inning kept him from a clean sheet.

Kumar Rocker performed as advertised in his debut. You couldn’t have asked for much more.

Rocker made two more starts, and scuffled in both of them, which I guess was disappointing, though it wasn’t realistic to expect he was going to just roll over every major league team. He allowed a pair of runs in three innings in a start at home against Toronto — a game I attended — and his command was off, as he walked four and hit a batter. But he battled, he maintained his composure, and still struck out five batters. In his final start of the year, he gave up three runs in 4.2 innings in Oakland, not walking anyone this team, but also fanning just two.

Rocker finished the season with a 3.86 major league ERA, a 3.68 FIP, and a 3.17 xERA. He generated a high number of ground balls and hitters didn’t barrel him up — of the 55 batters he faced in those three starts, Turner’s home run was the only extra base hit.

Yes, it was only three starts. But it was three starts where Rocker pitched well, showed why he has generated so much excitement, and gave us reason to hope that maybe — maybe — we could have a legitimate homegrown TORP.

Previously:

Jesus Tinoco

Marcus Semien

Josh Sborz

Sam Huff

Jacob deGrom

Michael Lorenzen

Adolis Garcia

Gerson Garabito

David Robertson

Davis Wendzel

Grant Anderson

Sandro Fabian

Yerry Rodriguez

Carson Kelly

Daniel Robert

Corey Seager

Jon Gray

Shaun Anderson

Ezequiel Duran

Walter Pennington

Nathaniel Lowe

Derek Hill

Chase Anderson

Robbie Grossman

Max Scherzer

Austin Pruitt

Kirby Yates

Matt Festa

Dustin Harris

Jacob Latz

Andrew Heaney

Jonathan Ornelas

Josh Jung

Andrew Chafin

Tyler Mahle

Marc Church

Evan Carter

Nathan Eovaldi

Justin Foscue

Jose Urena

Jonathan Hernandez

Cody Bradford

Jared Walsh