ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said Kumar Rocker‘s velocity and slider shape held up on Friday night and pointed to the location of his pitches instead.
Rocker allowed 6 runs, 5 of them earned, on 9 hits over 5 innings in a 7-6 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Globe Life Field. He struck out 3 and did not walk a batter.
“It’s a lot of innings for him this year, more than ever. But he was throwing 96 miles an hour,” Schumaker said. “I think it was just the execution of the pitches, where kind of their hot zones, he threw it there, unfortunately, a few times and paid for it. So there was some really good pitches that were made. His velo was there. His slider shapes were there. That part of it was good. Unfortunately, the execution of the pitch ended up catching up to him, and those top four hitters especially, I mean, they’re a good lineup up and down. But the top four hitters, if you make a mistake, they’re going to make you pay. And he made a few mistakes to them.”
Kumar Rocker’s Innings Total Against His Career Highs
Rocker has thrown 134 2/3 innings this season, more than in any year of his professional career. He threw 28 innings in the minors in 2023, 36 2/3 in the minors and 11 2/3 in the majors in 2024, and 64 1/3 in the majors in 2025. That is just over 140 innings combined across the three seasons.
The only other time Rocker exceeded 120 innings was his junior season at Vanderbilt in 2021, when he threw 122.
Rocker fell to 5-11. He entered Friday at 5-10 with a 4.44 ERA over 26 appearances and 24 starts, and he had thrown 129 2/3 innings.
The 9 hits were the second most Rocker has allowed in a game. He gave up 10 on Aug. 2 at Houston. It was the most by a Rangers reliever since Caleb Boushley allowed 10 on June 22, 2025, at Pittsburgh.
What the Tampa Bay Rays Did With the Mistakes
Jonathan Aranda homered off Rocker in the third inning and Richie Palacios homered with two outs in the fourth. Yandy Díaz, Aranda, and Junior Caminero opened the fifth with three consecutive opposite-field doubles, and Tampa Bay scored four times in the inning.
Aranda doubled, homered, drove in 2 runs, and scored twice. Yandy Díaz had 3 hits and scored a run. Caminero finished with 2 hits and 2 RBIs.
Texas opened with right-hander Trevor Williams and left-hander Robby Ahlstrom before turning to Rocker in the third. Williams worked a scoreless first inning and Ahlstrom stranded the bases loaded in the second.
Rocker carries an 8.63 ERA in the first inning this season, the second-highest mark in the majors among pitchers with at least 20 first innings, behind only teammate Jacob deGrom at 9.00. His ERA in all other innings entering Friday was 3.49. The Rangers had used an opener twice before this season, both times ahead of Rocker and both times on the road.
Jack Leiter is on the 60-day injured list and Nathan Eovaldi is on the 15-day injured list. The Rangers bullpen carries a 4.36 ERA, which ranks 23rd in the majors, and 34 different players have pitched for Texas this season.
Texas fell to 70-72 and matched its largest deficit in the American League West this season at 3 games after Houston beat Arizona 3-1. Tampa Bay improved to 84-57. Drew Rasmussen (14-5, 2.95 ERA) is scheduled to start for Tampa Bay on Saturday against Rangers right-hander Jacob deGrom (10-9, 4.00) at Globe Life Field.
