Latest outing for Rangers' Kumar Rocker shows development is anything but linear

DETROIT — The under-the-microscope development of Rangers right-handed pitcher Kumar Rocker has hardly been linear. There was the elbow surgery that cost him most of his first full professional campaign. There was the major league debut after only a half-season’s worth of minor league starts. There was the opening day roster nod last season, the demotion a month later and the battle for a rotation gig this spring. 

There have been the necessary improvements, too, that the Rangers have implored their former top prospect to make along the way.

Those aren’t inherently linear, either, if his latest start is proof. 

“I think he was trying to make pitches,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said, “and unfortunately the run game caught up to him again.”

Rocker’s ability — or, more specifically, inability — to hold runners on base has been a focus of the former first-round pick’s development since last season. It was a priority in spring training as he battled for the fifth starter job, and while he showed signs of improvement in camp and has been marginally better to start this season, the opponents pounced in a 5-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on Saturday night. 

The Tigers scored three runs in the first inning when Rocker left a slider in the strike zone that catcher Dillon Dingler walloped over the left field fence for a three-run home run. Rocker’s second and final inning was less so explosive and more so tedious. Center fielder Wenceel Pérez reached on a one-out single, bolted for second base on the first pitch of the next at-bat and slid into second base safely before catcher Danny Jansen threw down after a double pump. Pérez scored on a single from shortstop Kevin McGonigle, and on the first pitch of the next at-bat, Detroit’s prodigious rookie was more than halfway to second base before Jansen’s attempt to throw him out bounced wide left. McGonigle, a plus runner, scored two pitches later on a single from second baseman Gleyber Torres and cemented a five-run lead. 

“There’s times I’ve been better at it than not,” Rocker said. “This is one of the nights that kind of surprised me. That’s what they’re there to do — they’re there to pick up on those little things and make those moves — and they did a good job at that. They got me beat.”

Rocker had allowed only three stolen bases in his first five starts, and compared to last season, runners have attempted to run on him at a slighter percentage. He allowed six stolen bases in spring while he fine-tuned his focus, pitch mix and attention to details but was also on the mound while two were thrown out. Baserunners are a perfect 17 for 17 on stolen base attempts against Rocker in his big league career. The Rangers as a team have allowed a below-league-average 21 stolen bases this season. 

“He’s done a much better job of mixing different looks and holds and stuff like that,” said Jansen, who’s caught each of Rocker’s six starts, and also allowed another stolen base later in Saturday’s game. “When it comes down to it, I’ve got to get the ball in my hand to get the throw on the bag, and not bounce it or shuffle it. That’s what I’m kind of frustrated about  — controlling things on my end  —  and I didn’t do a very good job at that.”

Schumaker lifted Rocker after just two innings and only 43 pitches because he “didn’t want the game to get away,” and in his place, the bullpen trio of right-handed pitchers Cal Quantrill, Peyton Gray and Gavin Collyer combined for six scoreless frames. That, coupled with first baseman Jake Burger’s solo home run in the fourth inning, kept the Rangers in what Schumaker calls “the slam range,” though another hitless game with runners in scoring position nullified the window of opportunity. 

The Tigers had five hits in a dozen chances with runners in scoring position. 

It helped that they were able to create their own opportunities. 

“It’s something that we’ve got to make sure we let him know,” Schumaker said, “the 'every guy is a priority guy' type thing. [We’ve been caught] trying to make pitches instead of, there’s the nuances of the game, we’ve still got to make sure that we clean that up. They’re getting into runners in scoring position too often, and that’s something we can control.”