Rangers prospect Kumar Rocker has 10 strikeouts in first Triple-A start: When could he make his MLB debut?

Rangers pitching prospect Kumar Rocker made a splash in his Triple-A debut for Texas’ Round Rock affiliate on Wednesday night. Rocker, who faced Los Angeles Dodgers veteran Yoshinobu Yamamoto, pitched five one-hit innings and didn’t allow a single walk or run. He set a new professional career high by striking out 10 of the 16 batters he faced.

Rocker’s fastball reached 99.9 mph on Wednesday night and he produced 15 swinging strikes in 35 attempts, with his trademark slider fouling off nearly 80% of them.

Rocker, 24, authored one of the most celebrated collegiate careers in recent memory while at Vanderbilt — he first gained national prominence when he threw a 19-strikeout no-hitter against Duke in 2019. His professional career hasn’t been filled with success, at least not to date.

Rocker was originally drafted by the New York Mets in 2021, but he did not sign after the team was uncomfortable with what they found in a post-draft physical. After a summer in indy ball, he was drafted again, this time by the Rangers. He made only a few regular-season minor-league appearances for the Rangers before requiring Tommy John surgery, which slowed his ascent to the major leagues.

Rocker returned to pitch in July and has since compiled a 1.71 ERA and 11.75 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 31 innings and three levels. It’s unclear whether the Rangers will allow him to make his big-league debut before the season ends — keep in mind, they’ll have to take into account Jacob deGrom’s expected return to the rotation in the coming weeks — but with a few more outings like Wednesday, they may not have a choice.

At the very least, a well-muscled Rocker could play a bigger role in Texas’ rotation next season.