ARLINGTON -- Kumar Rocker wears a shirt that reads “PROCESS OVER RESULTS” in the style of a math equation.
In an ideal world, the process is yielding results. But this is baseball. That’s not always how things go.
The Rangers fell 7-1 to the Cubs on Friday night at Globe Life Field, and though Chicago broke the game wide open late, the results early showed that Texas could be in for a long night.
Rocker allowed a double and a single in the first inning, but Michael Conforto's double had an xBA of .030 and Ian Happ's single got through the shift at 82.5 mph. The Rangers' right-hander appeared to settle in afterwards with a pair of quick innings in the second and third before the fourth inning got away from him and he couldn’t complete the frame.
He ultimately allowed three runs in 3 2/3 innings as his day ended with 87 pitches. Rocker threw 28 pitches in the first inning and 39 pitches in the fourth. The 39 pitches were the second-most by a Texas pitcher in a single frame this season (40, Cal Quantrill in the 8th inning on 4/18 at SEA).
“I felt good, felt like I was settling in before it got away from me a little bit,” Rocker said. “I put the team in a terrible position. They didn't deserve that. That's why we're here right now.”
“He didn't get too many sliders over and there were a lot of foul balls,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “That costs him extra innings and high pitch counts. The command we talked about all along. How can we get strike one, get ahead, stay ahead and finish? He just didn't do that tonight with the slider. A lot of foul balls with the sinker, and not much with the slider. Against a team that is really good at strike-zone judgment, he needed to pound the zone. Unfortunately, there were just too many foul balls and too many balls. The pitch count climbed.”
That’s what his outing truly came down to: an inability to pound the zone against a team like the Cubs.
Rocker threw just eight first-pitch strikes to the 18 batters he faced. He spent much of his abbreviated night fighting from behind as he tried to get back into counts and force the Cubs to put the ball in play.
“I still believe in this defense,” Schumaker said. “You have to trust them. Four walks in four innings, that does not help. We gotta figure that part out. Because in those good starts, he eliminates walks. I can deal with you guys getting hits and a guy getting a home run, that type of thing. I'm OK with it if we're challenging guys. But when we're not challenging guys, good teams make you pay.”
Rocker has shown flashes of ace potential in parts of his first two seasons in the big leagues.
But time and time again, he’s struggled with the little things -- pounding the strikezone, holding runners, fielding his position. To put it simply, his young big league career has been inconsistent and messy at times.
He won the fifth-starter job out of Spring Training in a battle with Jacob Latz and seemingly turned a corner as he posted a 3.38 ERA through the end of April. But his last two starts have yielded eight runs in 5 2/3 innings against the Tigers and Cubs as old issues continued to arise. The 12.71 ERA in May has raised his season ERA from 3.38 to 5.01.
“When he doesn't walk guys or when he’s not erratic around the zone, that's when he's really, really good,” Schumaker said. “He is really good when he's dominating the strike zone. Just like any other pitcher, when you're giving free passes, this stuff happens.”
Eventually, if you stay within your process, it’s going to yield results. Rocker is well aware of what’s plagued him in his starts this season. But he’s intent on sticking with his process and learning from each start, good or bad.
“[I take away] a lot of self-awareness stuff,” Rocker said. “Just being better pitch to pitch on what I'm thinking. I thought I prepared well. But strategically, with each batter, I thought I did a poor job. That’s something I gotta look back on and apply to my next outing, and at least put the team in a position to win.”