ARLINGTON -- Kumar Rocker walked off the mound to a loud ovation from the 37,045 fans at Globe Life Field on Saturday night.
There was one out in the seventh inning against the Tigers, and the rookie right-hander had gotten the Rangers there with relative ease. Rocker tossed 6 1/3 scoreless innings while allowing only one hit against the American League’s best club, powering Texas to a 4-1 victory to bring the team over .500 for the first time since May 20.
“Rock, I mean, it was a really, really good job,” said manager Bruce Bochy. “You know what was impressive? In the fourth inning, he walked a couple of guys with nobody out. He pitched out of that. Those are games that have sometimes gotten away from him, but he kept his poise and did a nice job of pitching out of a tough jam there. Terrific job.”
The Rangers had been at or below .500 for 59 straight days.
“It was just good to get a win out of it,” Rocker said. “[Catcher Kyle Higashioka] called a good game back there. It was a good team one. We gotta keep it rolling.”
This has been just the latest chapter in the remarkable turnaround that Rocker has had this season.
The 25-year-old was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock on June 5, just one start following his activation from the injured list as he dealt with a right shoulder impingement. In that lone start, he allowed five earned runs in 3 1/3 innings in a road loss to Tampa Bay, ballooning his season ERA to 8.87 across his first six starts of the season.
He was recalled to join the big league club a week later on June 15, following injuries to Nathan Eovaldi -- who has since been activated but has now been scratched from Sunday's series finale due to back tightness -- and Tyler Mahle that limited the rotation.
In his six MLB starts since his demotion, Rocker has allowed 12 runs in 32 1/3 innings, good for a 3.34 ERA in that span. Six of those runs came during one blow-up outing in Anaheim before the All-Star break.
Rocker said he had a “change in perspective” during his brief time in Round Rock. He’s pitching more freely, more comfortably. He’s mixing in his pitches, diversifying his repertoire more than ever. But most of all, he’s more locked in every start.
“He's done a lot to get where he needs to be,” Bochy said. “I'll be honest, I'm amazed at the difference in just one start from when Kumar went down and when he came back up. … I think he just grew as a pitcher. And with how fast it all happened, it’s impressive.
“The pitchability, that sometimes takes young guys years. I love the way he made adjustments. The improvement that he made, his pitchability, he gained awareness. He had that little bit of a hiccup there in Anaheim. But besides that, he was right on. So I love the progress that he's made.”
Perhaps the most important part of Rocker’s start on Saturday was his perfect execution of the “little things.” Going to his last start in Tampa on June 4, the day before his demotion, Rocker’s lackadaisical fielding of his position cost multiple runs and maybe even the game.
Even going back to Spring Training, Rocker struggled to hold runners, allowing extra bases left and right.
On Saturday, Rocker fielded his position as well as anybody, covering first base on four separate putouts. He was quick to the plate.
“I think it probably was a good wake-up call that it's important to do the little things on the peripherals if you want to be a starting pitcher,” Bochy said. “Those things can win ball games for you, holding runners, fielding your position, coming to bases. You’re a position player after you let go of the ball. I think he realized that and put it upon himself to get better at it. And he did. He showed up.”
Multiple times, Bochy has emphasized just how impressed he is with how quick Rocker’s turnaround has been. It’s hard to point to one specific thing as the reason for the turnaround. But one thing is clear: the Rangers are happy it happened.
“That's a credit to him,” Bochy said. “He went down and knew he had some work to do. Sometimes when that happens, you hope they go down a little ticked off, maybe at themselves and just re-evaluate where they're at, what they need to do. He did that in various aspects of his game. Good for him on how he handled it.”