Kumar Rocker Has Shown Flashes for Texas Rangers As He Makes His Name In MLB

It’s been a rough start to the month of May for Texas Rangers starting pitcher, Kumar Rocker. Rocker has lost his last three consecutive starts and the first two starts during the month of May. The 26-year-old put together a solid performance during April, finishing the month with a 3.38 ERA through five starts and a 1-2 record. After his recent start on May 8th, his ERA has already increased to 5.01 and 12.71 during May. While Rocker has struggled in his recent starts, he has the tools and skillset to be effective on the mound and be a key piece for the Rangers starting rotation.

Rocker Has Great April, Rough Start To May

In his last start against the Chicago Cubs, Rocker went 3 ⅔ innings and threw 87 pitches. He allowed three runs on four hits while walking three and striking out three. Rocker took ownership in the team’s loss against the Cubs.

“I felt good, felt like I was settling in before it got away from me a little bit,” he said after the game. “I put the team in a terrible position. They didn’t deserve that. That’s why we’re here right now.”

“[I take away] a lot of self-awareness stuff,” Rocker said. “Just being better pitch to pitch on what I’m thinking. I thought I prepared well. But strategically, with each batter, I thought I did a poor job. That’s something I gotta look back on and apply to my next outing, and at least put the team in a position to win.”

Texas Rangers Manager Wants To See More Control, Consistency

The Cubs managed to tack on four more runs after Rocker exited the game. Rangers manager Skip Schumaker talked about Rocker’s performance against Chicago.

“He didn’t get too many sliders over and there were a lot of foul balls,” Schumaker said. “That costs him extra innings and high pitch counts. The command we talked about all along. How can we get strike one, get ahead, stay ahead and finish? He just didn’t do that tonight with the slider. A lot of foul balls with the sinker, and not much with the slider. Against a team that is really good at strike-zone judgment, he needed to pound the zone. Unfortunately, there were just too many foul balls and too many balls. The pitch count climbed.”

On the season, Rocker has a 1-4 record with 27 strikeouts through 32.1 innings pitched. His best outing so far this season came in April against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He went six innings allowing one run and striking out five as he picked up his first win of the season.

“When he doesn’t walk guys or when he’s not erratic around the zone, that’s when he’s really, really good,” Schumaker said. “He is really good when he’s dominating the strike zone. Just like any other pitcher, when you’re giving free passes, this stuff happens.”

The Rangers were very high on Rocker when they selected him with the 10th pick in the draft. Now in his second full season, Rocker will have the opportunity to learn from his experience during his rookie season and show why he belongs in the league.