The
Texas Rangers
have a talented starting rotation led by veterans like
Jacob deGrom
, Nathan Eovaldi and
Tyler Mahle
.
But with injuries to other contributors, the opportunity has arisen for talented young arms like Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter to step up.
They’ve both done it so far, as Rocker has shaken off some early struggles to improve his form while Leiter got off to a 2-0 start with a 0.90 ERA
before a minor injury
.
The duo of former Vanderbilt Commodores are well on their way to establishing themselves as full-time Big Leaguers, and with nearly a full month gone by in the regular season, it’s time to start taking stock of the major award races.
MLB.com analyst Theo DeRosa did exactly that Tuesday when he published a rundown on the
American League Rookie of the Year race.
He didn’t rank either Rocker or Leiter as current frontrunners, but did include them as possible contenders as the season goes on.
“Rocker certainly helped his early ROY case after his most recent start — a career-long seven-inning outing Thursday with eight strikeouts,” DeRosa wrote on Rocker. “He still has a 6.38 ERA through his first four outings of 2025, but if Rocker has found something, that number could get lower in a hurry.”
Rocker has great potential with his ability to avoid walks and keep batted balls on the ground, but from what he has shown to this point in the season, he is lacking the strikeout upside necessary to offset some of the hard contact he allows.
While he’s in the 71st percentile in ground ball rate, he’s in the 17th percentile in average exit velocity allowed
according to Statcast data
.
His xERA of 5.11 furthers this notion, that Rocker will need to find away to either get more swing and miss or limit the hard contact he’s allowing to get real consideration. If he does neither, the results could go back south.
Leiter, on the other hand, is showing some of the aspects it takes to break through to the highest echelons of the pitching profession.
“It remains to be seen when Leiter does come back and how he looks once he does, but the No. 2 Draft pick in 2021 and longtime top prospect has delivered encouraging early returns,” DeRosa added about Leiter.
Leiter is deftly stifling hard contact, ranking in the 98th percentile in hard-hit rate, and he’s well above average at generating swings and misses, with his juiced up four-seam fastball grading as one of the best in the league.
Both Rocker and Leiter have the potential to compete for the prestigious honor, but if Leiter returns soon from his injury in the same form he had just prior, it could very well be his to lose.
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This article was originally published on
www.si.com/mlb/rangers
as
Do Texas Rangers Have Two Rookie of the Year Candidates in Starting Rotation?
.
