CHICAGO -- The Rangers’ rotation has been one of the best in baseball, posting a 2.84 ERA entering Friday night’s matchup with the White Sox. Only the Mets had a better rotation ERA, 2.83.
Texas also has another flamethrower on the back burner. Rookie Kumar Rocker, who landed on the injured list with mild right shoulder impingement on April 24, made his first rehab outing with Double-A Frisco.
Rocker was dominant in a brief start, tossing three scoreless innings on 34 pitches against Midland (A’s affiliate). He tallied three strikeouts with no walks. He worked in all of his pitches, with the four-seam and two-seam fastballs both sitting at 96-98 mph.
Rocker has seen some highs and lows in his first full season in the big leagues, including a 3.00 ERA at Globe Life Field (four earned runs in 12 innings), but a 15.75 ERA on the road (14 earned runs in eight innings).
He said the injury felt like a good reset for him, both physically and mentally.
“It’s good,” Rocker said before going on his rehab assignment. “I feel a little bit refreshed and just ready to get back at it. The time off allowed me to just focus on the mental side of the game, seeing what I can do better, executing pitches better, just playing better baseball in general and helping these guys win.
“It's been a roller-coaster ride so far, and it was good just getting a little time to think about it and see what I can do better.”
Kennedi Landry covers the Rangers for MLB.com.