Pair of Texas Rangers Top Prospects Projected to Miss Starting Rotation

According to a projection on MLB.com, Texas Rangers top prospects Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter are both projected to miss the starting rotation at the beginning of the season.

The projection for Texas looks like this:

Rotation 1.Jacob deGrom, RHP 2. Nathan Eovaldi, RHP 3.Jon Gray, RHP 4.Cody Bradford, LHP 5.Tyler Mahle, RHP

Rookie pitchers and former Vanderbilt teammates Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiterwill be waiting in the wings as depth options, but when everybody’s healthy, those five veterans are likely to open the season in the rotation.--

First and foremost, it should be noted that this is just a projection. A lot of things can happen over the course of spring training to change plans. Second, there's also quite a bit of injury risk in this rotation plan, meaning that Rocker and Leiter could both get their chances sooner rather than later.

Rocker, 25, is the former No. 3 overall pick in the 2022 Draft. He made his major league debut late last season, going 0-2 with a 3.86 ERA in three games. He struck out 14 batters in 11.2 innings and is ranked as the No. 44 prospect in baseball entering this season.

Leiter, 24, has seen his star fade recently, but he is also a former Top-30 prospect. The No. 2 overall pick in 2021, he is 0-3 with an 8.83 ERA in nine career appearances. He's struck out 31 batters in 35.2 career innings.

He's also just 11-20 in the minor leagues with a 4.81 ERA.

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