Rangers call up Kumar Rocker, strikes out 7 in electric MLB debut

Kumar Rocker’s journey from being the most energetic freshman in college baseball to making his MLB debut was ultimately a lot more exciting than anyone had hoped, but the end result looked impressive on Thursday.

The No. 3 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft (and No. 10 overall in the 2021 draft) struck out seven batters and allowed three hits, two walks and an earned run in four innings of work for the Texas Rangers in a 5-4 win over the Seattle Mariners on Thursday. The pitching included heat in the 90s and a couple of wipeout-breaking pitches.

He also made history as the first MLB player of Indian descent.

Rocker’s most impressive pitch was undoubtedly his slider, which MLB Pipeline rates as a 70 on its 20-80 scouting scale. According to Baseball Savant, Rocker threw 33 sliders out of his 74 pitches and generated 13 whiffs on 21 swings.

That ties for the eighth-most swings-and-misses on a slider in a game this season, which Rocker, again, did in just four innings. No player had generated 10 slider whiffs in fewer than 78 pitches this season.

That’s an impressive debut for a player with a wealthy background.

Kumar Rocker’s road to MLB was bumpy

Rocker appeared to be a potential No. 1 overall pick in 2019, when he won Most Outstanding Player in Vanderbilt’s College World Series after a 19-strikeout no-hitter against Duke in the Super Regional round.

Rocker’s stuff was tempting, but concerns about a velocity dip in his junior year, long-term durability worries and questions about the depth of his arsenal resulted in him falling to the Mets at No. 10 overall in the 2021 MLB Draft. Then the Mets withdrew a $6 million-plus offer after reviewing his medical records, which weren’t available before the draft.

Instead of returning to Vanderbilt, Rocker worked out on his own and subsequently signed with the independent Tri-City ValleyCats prior to the 2022 MLB Draft. He was surprisingly selected third overall by the Rangers and received a $5.2 million signing bonus.

The Mets appeared to be proven right in May 2023 when it was announced that Rocker would require Tommy John surgery. New York used its compensatory pick for not signing Rocker on Georgia Tech’s Kevin Parada, a top-ranked catcher currently batting .209 in Double-A.

Rocker quickly returned to Tommy John standards, returning to the mound in July and skyrocketing in the Rangers organization until the team announced he would be heading to the big leagues. Many have waited years to see Rocker pitch in the MLB, and his first game was a good sign that the wait (and turbulence) would be worth it.