How Rockies Lineup Could Dictate When Rangers Use Kumar Rocker on Tuesday

The Texas Rangers are playing the percentages when it comes to starting Tyler Alexander and pitching Kumar Rocker later in the game.

Earlier on Tuesday the Rangers announced that Alexander, a left-handed reliever, would start the game. Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News (subscription required) reported that the intention was to bring Rocker in after Alexander.

It’s an opener deployment the Rangers rarely use unless they’re forced to do so, as they were a week ago when they scratched Nathan Eovaldi from a start. Texas is playing a hunch and how the Rockies arranged their lineup may help dictate when the Rangers bring Rocker in the game.

Rockies Lineup vs. Rangers

First, here’s the lineup for the Rockies:

Tuesday starters! pic.twitter.com/nF9kifBziR
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) May 19, 2026

The Rockies got the memo on Rocker coming in after Alexander. But they also looked at Alexander’s splits. Lefties are batting .316 against him. The lineup is stacked with left-handers. Colorado deployed switch-hitter Willi Castro at the top of the lineup. They have five other left-handers in the order behind him.

The Rockies know that Alexander is likely to pitch no more than two innings. He has pitched two innings in an outing twice this season. Texas was probably seeking a favorable lane in which to insert Rocker, who has struggled on the road. Alexander’s highest pitch count in any game this season is 37. If he can give Texas 30 pitches in two innings, that would probably pave the way for Rocker.

Texas likely knew Colorado would align its lineup that way. The Rockies won’t have to pinch hit when Rocker enters the game to flip the matchups. They’re also facing a young pitcher who has been awful on the road. The raw numbers are terrible —a 7.71 ERA in three starts with 13 strikeouts and six walks in just 11.2 innings. He’s allowed 16 hits and 10 earned runs.

But here’s the hunch the Rangers are playing. A check of Rocker’s splits at baseball-reference.com reveals that has had great difficulty in the first inning. He has an 11.25 ERA in that inning, home or road. After that his ERA levels out. He’s also more effective in innings 4-6 (2.51 ERA) than in the first three innings (5.48 ERA). Ten of the 18 runs he’s allowed have come in the first inning.

There really isn’t a good lane to drop Rocker into in Colorado’s lineup. Texas would probably like to start him in a right-on-right matchup. If Alexander can retire six straight the Rangers could start Rocker against the right-handed hitting Brenton Doyle.

This is an experiment. Can an opener help ease Rocker into the game and make him more effective? That’s what Texas is trying to figure out.

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