Rangers Boss Explains Logic Starting Kumar Rocker Without Opener

The Texas Rangers decided to go without an opener for starting pitcher Kumar Rocker on Monday on a night when little would have helped.

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Kumar Rocker. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

ARLINGTON, Texas — Skip Schumaker doesn’t want the opener to become a habit for Texas Rangers starting pitcher Kumar Rocker.

The right-hander started for the first time since he pitched behind an opener last Tuesday in Colorado and threw the best game of his career.

Against Houston he was less effective in a 9-0 Rangers loss. The Astros no-hit the Rangers with three pitchers, so there was nothing Rocker could have done aside from throw a no-hitter of his own.

He only went five innings, giving up four hits and four runs, with two walks and five strikeouts. His performance, and the loss, wasn’t something an opener would have solved.

Kumar Rocker Without an Opener

Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker argues a call with home plate umpire Tyler Jones. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said before the game that using the opener last Tuesday was an attempt to shake Rocker out of poor starts, especially on the road. He also said using an opener only works if the opener is effective. Left-hander Tyler Alexander threw a perfect first inning and Rocker followed it with 7.2 innings of shutout baseball, the longest appearance of his MLB career.

“You do the opener to try and trigger something,” Schumaker said.

What did it trigger? Rocker said last week to reporters in Colorado that he adjusted his bullpen routine a little bit and that he was able to settle in a little more smoothly. But his first inning that game — the second inning — wasn’t without incident. He gave up back-to-back singles, but the Rangers got out of the jam. He was also staked to a 5-0 lead.

The hope was Rocker could take that brilliant appearance and build on it Monday. There is some experimentation involved, here, Schumaker admitted. No one knew how Rocker would react last week nor how he would pitch on Monday.

“It was a really good learning lesson for him in Colorado,” Schumaker said. “How to change things up and hopefully he’ll have a good first inning.”

There was some good news. Rocker was more effective in the first inning than he had been in previous outings. Entering the game he had an 11.25 ERA — which was part of the rationale for using the opener last week. He gave up a run, but it was on a Yordan Alvarez sacrifice fly RBI that scored Jeremy Peña, whom he hit with a pitch to lead off the game. His ERA for the inning dropped to 11.00. It’s progress.

He settled down after that and at one point retired seven batters in a row and carried a no-hitter in the fourth inning, matching Astros starter Tatsuya Imai. He lost the bid by giving up a solo home run to Alvarez. But his 93.7 mph sinker caught the lower edge of the strike zone opposite Alvarez, a left-handed hitter, and he went down and got it. Rocker threw a good pitch.

The Astros added two more runs in the fifth before the Rangers went to the bullpen. It wasn’t quite what Rocker or the Rangers wanted.

“It was the free passes that kind of came back to get me,” Rocker said. “That didn’t help.”

If there is any solace, there is nothing Rocker could have done given how the game unfolded. The one-run first inning was a small victory for him to build on.

Schumaker said that he’s not opposed to using the opener again with Rocker. But he’s also aware of the position it puts the Rangers’ bullpen in. The night before Texas used Alexander in front or Rocker, they used five relievers when MacKenzie Gore left a game after one inning due to a minor injury.

In one regard, Texas got lucky Rocker was brilliant that game. There’s no guarantee it will happen again.

“I’m hoping we don’t have to do it every single start,” Schumaker said. “That can get really dicey for your bullpen, especially with no off-days coming up [until June 4].”