Rocker has first rough night behind openers as innings total reaches new territory

ARLINGTON -- The Rangers used not one opener, but two openers ahead of Kumar Rocker on Friday night against the Rays.

Texas had used an opener on two separate occasions entering the day, both times ahead of Rocker on the road, in part because of his first-inning struggles throughout the season.

Rocker’s 8.63 ERA in the first inning this season is the second-highest mark in MLB (minimum 20 first innings pitched) to only teammate Jacob deGrom (9.00). Rocker had a 3.49 ERA in all other frames combined entering the day. ​

Both previous instances of using an opener have been successful for the Rangers and for Rocker.

That wasn’t the case on Friday.

Rocker, pitching behind Trevor Williams (1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER) and Robby Ahlstrom (1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER), allowed six runs (five earned) in five innings out of the bullpen as the Rangers fell, 7-6, to the Rays at Globe Life Field.

“I think you have to be creative against a really good team and find different ways to change it up and try to match up the best you can,” manager Skip Schumaker said pregame. “They have seven lefties in their lineup. We'll see exactly how we match up. But the thought is to open [ahead of] Rocker, he’ll come out of the bullpen at some point, and see where we're at.”​

That “at some point” came in the third inning. Rocker almost immediately gave up a solo homer to Jonathan Aranda, the second batter he faced. He gave up another solo shot to Richie Palacios in the fourth.

Things unraveled in the fifth, when he gave up three straight doubles to Yandy Díaz, Aranda and Junior Caminero to open the frame and five total hits, allowing the Rays to blow the game open.

“Whenever I'm called to take the ball in a big league game, that's what I do,” Rocker said of coming in behind an opener again. “I try to go out there and compete to the fullest I can. Tonight I didn't do it. That was on me. I did not get the job done for the team.”

Rocker’s nine hits allowed were the second most in his career (10 on Aug. 2 at HOU) and most by a Rangers reliever since Caleb Boushley (10) on June 22, 2025 at Pittsburgh.

“I think it was just the execution of the pitches,” Schumaker said. “You know where their hot zones are. He threw it there, unfortunately, a few times and paid for it. There were some really good pitches that were made. His velo was there. His slider shapes were there. That part of it was good. Unfortunately, the execution of the pitch ended up catching up to him. Those top four hitters especially, if you make a mistake, they're gonna make you pay. He made a few mistakes to them.”

Asked if Rocker was running on fumes as his innings continue to creep up, Schumaker did not want to make that assertion. His 134 2/3 innings this season are far more than he’s ever thrown at the professional level. He's only thrown more than 120 innings once before, his junior season at Vanderbilt in 2021 (122).

2023: 28 in Minor Leagues
2024: 36 2/3 in Minors, 11 2/3 in MLB
2025: 64 1/3 in MLB
2026: 134 2/3

Rocker had just over 140 innings combined between 2023-25. He’s approaching that number in 2026.

His inning total may be reaching new highs, but that’s not the reason for his struggles.

“It's a lot of innings for him this year, more than ever,” Schumaker said. “I don't know if I would say he's out of gas because the velo and everything else has been there, but the location just wasn't there tonight. … I don't want to give any excuses. If you watch the stuff, it wasn't like it was 90-92. It was 95-96 mph. It was coming out good, and the sliders were coming out good. It was just the location of where the pitches were to a couple guys was literally where they do the damage. Are they correlated? Potentially. But I think it's more just the execution of the pitch more than the fumes.”