SURPRISE, Ariz. — He’s not the chattiest of the Rangers’ pitchers, but that only gives the points he does make that much more weight.
For instance, this is how Kumar Rocker on Wednesday summed up his biggest single project of the spring — displaying an effective changeup that he’s willing to use in games:
“I can’t rent it,” he said. “I’ve got to own it.”
The point: He’s got to be fully committed to the pitch, which was a big stumbling block in first real shot at the Rangers’ starting rotation. There is ample opportunity for him to land a spot in the Rangers’ rotation; in fact, the Rangers might actually prefer if he does win it over Jacob Latz, because Latz could then be moved to the bullpen in a high-leverage role. But what will play out over the next six weeks is just how committed to “owning” the changeup to go with his fastball and hard breaking ball Rocker is. To own it, he’s got to use it. And therein lies the real conundrum. He shied away from it last year.
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It wasn’t a great pitch. He didn’t have much conviction in it. When he did throw it, almost exclusively to left-handed hitters, they bashed it. All of which led to even less conviction, less usage, an easier-to-predict arsenal for hitters and a seemingly never-ending downward spiral.
It led to a pair of minor league options and effectively ended his season in early August, when the Rangers optioned him to the minors, watched one start and then chose to take him off the active roster, place him in an intensive development program to recalibrate things. He pitched only once more in a game.
Not a great end to the year on the field, but it’s also worth remembering that in 2023 Jack Leiter finished the year in the same kind of intensive one-on-one class with then-minor league pitching coordinator Jordan Tiegs. It has been nothing but an upward trajectory for Leiter ever since.
From left, Texas Rangers pitcher Kumar Rocker, pitcher Nathan Eovaldi and pitching coach Jordan Tiegs watch as pitcher Jack Leiter (22) throws in the bullpen during a spring training workout at the team’s training facility on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Surprise, Ariz.
Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer
Leiter and Rocker, teammates at Vanderbilt and part of the offseason workout group with other pros at their alma mater, have talked about the development program, how it impacted Leiter and how it could help Rocker. Leiter said he felt like Rocker had a great offseason and was coming to camp with a chip on his shoulder.
“I’ve worked on what I needed to do to have success at the next level,” was how Rocker explained it Wednesday. “And I think I had the time to do that and just nail it down and put together something to take into the offseason. I felt like I needed to have better usage with my change, better consistency in my routine and just better overall consistency.”
Rocker didn’t really go into further detail, but doesn’t need to. The numbers explain the picture pretty well. Against the change, batters slugged .714 with an .800 expected slug, per Baseball Savant. The ball left the bat at 95.2 mph. It was the hardest average exit velocity among the pitchers who allowed at least 10 balls in play on the pitch. As you’d expect, those results would lead to a pitcher throwing that pitch less and less often. In Rocker’s case, he threw the changeup only 6.1% of the time, which ranked 212th of the 258 pitchers to throw at least 1,000 pitches in the majors in 2025.
The inability to use the change also had impact on his other pitches. Without something to throw beyond his upper 90s fastball and hard breaking ball, it made it easier for hitters to time him up. Further complicating things were that the fastball-slider combo essentially stayed on the same plane, mostly up in the strike zone. He needed something to occasionally get hitters to change their eye level, something that went down. The changeup should be that pitch, especially to left-handed hitters.
Despite the issues last year, the Rangers still strongly believe Rocker is a starter. Manager Skip Schumaker met with Rocker over the winter when Rocker was at Boras Sports Institute (Rocker is a Scott Boras client). The new manager and the pitcher had lunch and talked baseball. It wasn’t so much for Schumaker to lay out expectations to Rocker, but to remind him of the belief the Rangers have in him.
“He is a very talented, special pitcher that has stuff that a lot of guys don’t have on the mound,” Schumacher said. “We want to build him up and instill belief that he’s on our radar and that he’s really, really good. I want him to be hungry to make this team, to be the fifth starter. That’s the goal. And I think he’s doing everything he can to get there. There are not a lot of guys in this league that have his stuff. There are just some growing pains with a lot of young pitchers. It’s just the reality.”
Rocker went through those pains last year. The hope is he’s learned from it and that he’s ready to claim a rotation spot.
And not just on a short-term lease.
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