Texas Rangers starting pitcher Kumar Rocker.

SURPRISE, Ariz. — Kumar Rocker’s bid to open the season as the Texas Rangers’ No. 5 starter gained momentum Tuesday with the most polished outing of his spring. Piggy-backing on Jacob deGrom’s start, the 24-year-old right-hander worked four innings, throwing 47 pitches—36 for strikes—while allowing three hits, two runs and a solo home run. He struck out five without issuing a walk, trimming his Cactus League ERA to 5.19.

Manager Skip Schumaker, who has stressed first-pitch efficiency all camp, came away impressed.

“Twelve of 15 first-pitch strikes,” Schumaker told reporters. “The best I’ve seen him in spring, probably the best I’ve seen him live, quite honestly. He had the intent behind every pitch, the mound presence.”

The performance was notable less for the stat line than for its central objective: Rocker’s developing change-up. According to Statcast, only three of his 47 offerings were change-ups, averaging 89.1 mph, but the pitch accounted for one swing and, more importantly, represented another incremental step toward mastering a fourth weapon. The Rangers want the former Vanderbilt star to fold the off-speed pitch into a repertoire already headlined by a 97-mph fastball, 96.4-mph sinker and 85.8-mph slider—pitch types that comprised 66 percent of his mix on Tuesday and generated 22 swings, four called strikes and nine whiffs.

Control lapses contributed to Rocker’s mid-season demotion to Triple-A in 2023. His 2023 chase rate (28.8%), whiff rate (24.9%) and walk rate (8.0%) hovered near league average, while his strikeout rate (19.5%) lagged well below expectations for a pitcher with premium velocity and movement. Texas believes a reliable change-up, thrown for strikes, will amplify deception and elevate those peripherals.

Tuesday’s outing offered tangible progress. Rocker pounded the zone early, worked ahead in nearly every count and, most crucially, walked none. The lone damage came on a home run, a forgivable blemish in an otherwise efficient, power-heavy display.

With less than two weeks until Opening Day, Rocker remains firmly in the mix for the final rotation spot. If the change-up continues its upward trajectory, the Rangers may have found the complement to their front-line starters without making an external addition.