Texas Rangers Have Multiple Top 10 Right-Handed Pitching Prospects

The Texas Rangers have a couple of young standout right-handed pitching prospects who are considered some of the best at their position.

Sep 12, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Kumar Rocker (80) walks towards the dugout after the final out against the Seattle Mariners during the first inning at T-Mobile Park. | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

The Texas Rangers haven't made any offseason additions to their pitching staff, but they do have a couple of intriguing prospects who might get a chance.

MLB's analysts have been releasing their initial rankings of the top 10 prospects at every position this week, and the latest reveal was with right-handed pitchers.

There were two Rangers who made the cut. That is an upgrade over the end of the 2024 rankings where they only had one player represented.

Kumar Rocker was the first Texas pitcher mentioned at the eighth overall spot. Entering the list for the first time was Alejandro Rosario, who closed it out at No. 10.

Rocker was the third overall selection in the 2022 MLB draft. The Rangers got lucky in being able to select him in the first place, given that he was the No. 10 overall pick the year before by the New York Mets and they ended up not being able to sign him.

He was a dominant pitcher in college for the Vanderbilt Commodores and had people ecstatic for him to finally land in the league. His professional career got off to a solid start before Tommy John surgery cut his 2023 short. Things got kicked into high gear in 2024 when he finally got healthy.

Over his first 10 appearances ranging from rookie ball to Triple-A, he posted an impressive 1.96 ERA. That prompted Texas to bring him up for his debut in the Majors.

The now 25-year-old pitched 11.2 innings for the Rangers and posted a 3.86 ERA. It is unclear where he will start next season, but he will for sure pitch in the Majors again at some point.

Rosario was a fifth-round selection from the Miami Hurricanes in the 2023, with Texas mostly banking on his potential.

He had a worrisome 6.47 ERA in college, but was still riding some of the hype he had out of high school.

The Rangers were proven right to invest in him almost immediately. By the end of his first full campaign under their development, he had a 2.24 ERA over 88.1 innings of work.

The 23-year-old boasts a killer fastball-splitter duo that led him to finishing with 129 strikeouts while walking just 13 batters. His control has been immaculate, but he just needs to miss more bats.

Taking those two pitchers and adding in Jack Leiter, who is still promising despite his subpar MLB debut, and Texas has a very intriguing trio of pitchers coming down the pipeline soon.