Kumar Rocker the closer? Let’s pump the brakes.
Near the end of April I happened to come across a couple interesting posts on X/Twitter. The post discussed the possibility that the Texas Rangers might be looking to bring Kumar Rocker back in the closer role following his rehab assignment. This idea would be quickly shut down by President of Baseball Operations, Chris Young, but let’s discuss the idea overall.
Why would this idea make sense?
As it stands, the Rangers are currently 29-31 and 4 games back of the Seattle Mariners in the AL West. It is well known that the Rangers offense has struggled and been one of the primary reasons for the clubs less than ideal season so far. Jared Sandler, a TV/Radio broadcaster for the Rangers, brought up the stat yesterday that the Rangers this year are 21-3 when they score at least 4 runs in a game. The problem is, those 4 run games have been hard to come by. Right behind the Rangers offensive struggles though, are the recent struggles of the bullpen. After a solid start to the season the bullpen has taken a bit of a beating recently especially with Chris Martin on the 15-day IL. In my opinion though, no bullpen is ever going to hold up well when the offense consistently hangs them out to dry in high leverage situations. This situation along with the fact that the Rangers 5 current starters have been a top 3 rotation overall in the league really makes you think about why Rocker in the bullpen makes sense right? Wrong.
Where the idea is flawed
Kumar Rocker is currently only 25 years old and was drafted by the Rangers with the 3rd overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft. The Rangers drafted Rocker with the hopes that he and ex college teammate, Jack Leiter, would be the homegrown aces that the Rangers have failed to find in the past. The main concern with Rocker coming in was his injury history which would come back around as he would undergo Tommy John surgery in May of 2023. Rocker would finally make his MLB debut with the Rangers in 2024 and was on the Opening Day roster to start this year, and while he has had some struggles early this season, he has consistently shown flashes of his true potential in almost every start of his career. Now why do I disagree with the idea of putting Kumar, who has a plus fastball, a sharp slider, and a devastating curveball in the closer role? It’s simple really. The Rangers rotation has been amongst the best in the league, but it is also one of the most volatile for a few reasons. Reason one being the most obvious is injury concern. Jacob deGrom is currently sitting at 69 innings pitched which is the most he’s thrown since 2022 with the Mets when he threw 64. This along with the fact that Nathan Eovaldi joined the IL recently with elbow inflammation, and while Eovaldi and the Rangers do not seem too concerned with the injury, it is still something to keep an eye on. Lastly, the success of Patrick Corbin as a Ranger has been great to watch, but can you fully support betting on a career 4.5 ERA starter over a homegrown young talent who has shown potential to be a true ace for your organization down the road? At the end of the day Kumar Rocker should be a starter. There is no reason to risk stunting the growth of a pitcher who is still developing as a starter just for the possible short term success of a club that has much bigger issues to worry about.
