ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said Kumar Rocker’s first four innings at Arizona on Sept. 12 may have been the best four innings he has seen from the right-hander in the last couple of months.
Schumaker spoke in a pregame interview on Rangers Sports Network before Rocker started Friday’s series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays at Globe Life Field. Rocker entered 5-11 with a 4.54 ERA, 132 strikeouts, and 57 walks over 138 2/3 innings in 28 games, 25 of them starts.
Kumar Rocker Threw 46 Of 65 Pitches For Strikes At Arizona
On Sept. 12 at Chase Field, Rocker allowed 1 run on 2 hits over 4-plus innings, walking 2 and striking out 5. He threw 46 of his 65 pitches for strikes. Texas scored six runs in the top of the fifth to break a 1-1 tie, and Rocker did not finish the bottom half. He took a no-decision in a 6-2 Rangers win.
His pitch count had come down in each of his last three outings. Since the start of August, he has allowed 25 runs, 24 earned, over 36 innings in eight starts.
Schumaker said a repeat of that stuff could carry Rocker into the fifth and sixth innings and let Texas manage its bullpen around him.
“Well, it’s 3:45, so I don’t know if they’ve thrown just yet. So we’ll find out the health and the state of the bullpen once they do their catch play,” Schumaker said. “But as far as Rocker, he had a really good last start. The first four innings, we had a long offensive inning, and then he kind of had a little bit of a lapse there in the fifth inning and had to take him out. But as far as the stuff and the pitch quality, that might have been his best four innings I’ve seen in the last couple months.”
“I mean, it was really, really good, 96-97 with a really good slider and a cutter. If he can do that, then you could see him in the fifth and sixth inning, and then we can kind of manage the bullpen accordingly,” Schumaker continued. “Seeing who’s available, I don’t know that yet. Again, it’s a little bit earlier in the day, so trying to figure out who is up and who’s not. But what we saw in Rocker last time, hopefully that can carry over tonight.”
Texas used seven pitchers in Thursday’s 4-3 loss to the Boston Red Sox, a bullpen day. Before Friday’s game, the Rangers selected right-hander Michel Otañez from Triple-A Round Rock and optioned left-hander Robby Ahlstrom.
Skip Schumaker Says Strike One Is The Most Important Pitch For Kumar Rocker
Schumaker said strike one matters at every level, and that Rocker’s numbers show how effective he is when he gets it.
“But that’s everybody, right? I mean, that’s high schoolers, college players, minor league, big leagues. It does not change at this level,” Schumaker said. “Strike one is the most important pitch. And then the next pitch is the most important pitch after that.”
“But if you can get strike one, the numbers are the numbers, especially with Rock. If you can get strike one, he’s really, really effective,” Schumaker added.
The Arizona start came two years to the day after Rocker’s major league debut, on Sept. 12, 2024, at Seattle. Texas drafted him third overall in 2022 out of Vanderbilt University. The New York Mets had taken him 10th overall in 2021 but did not sign him. He had Tommy John surgery in May 2023.
He faced Dylan Cease (11-5, 2.38 ERA) in Friday’s opener, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. CT on Rangers Sports Network. Cal Quantrill starts Saturday at 6:05 p.m. CT, and Jacob deGrom starts Sunday’s 1:35 p.m. CT finale.
