SURPRISE, Ariz. Kumar Rocker fired his first pitches with "Rangers" splayed across his chest Tuesday night at Surprise Stadium, home to Texas' Spring Training complex.
The velocity was there. The snap on his breaking pitches was there. And for the first time since he was chosen with the third overall pick in the 2022 Draft, the crowd was there.
Rocker worked one scoreless frame for the Saguaros, consistently sitting at 95-96 mph with his heater, ramping it up as high as 97. He threw just nine of his 28 pitches for strikes and walked the bases loaded, but ultimately escaped unscathed with one strikeout to his credit. The punchout came off Mariners' No. 21 prospect Robert Perez Jr., who swung at three sliders that were down and out of the zone.
"He looked really good," Saguaros catcher Cody Freeman said. "He was around the zone a little bit, but he got back in there and pounded it. He's going to be something special."
Freeman, a fourth-round selection by Texas in the 2019 Draft out of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., was the lone Surprise hitter to produce a multihit outing in Peoria's 6-4 victory. Tuesday marked his first time catching Rocker, the club's No. 8 prospect.
Rocker's path to pitching in affiliated ball has been arduous: taken with the 10th overall pick by the Mets in the 2021 Draft, the hard-throwing righty did not sign after concerns emerged from a physical. He was thus eligible to be taken in '22 and the Rangers surprised many prognosticators by taking him as early as they did.
The 6-foot-5 right-hander featured a revamped motion with Surprise, which was much more rigid and upright than during his college days. His stuff was fastball-heavy, and he went through a stretch of throwing seven consecutive balls, eventually resulting in Freeman jogging to the mound for a visit.
"I was just giving him a little breather," said Freeman, who caught a pair of no-hitters earlier this summer with High-A Hickory. "I told him to relax and enjoy the moment."
The outing marked the first time Rocker took the hill since a five-start stint with the Tri-City ValleyCats of the independent Frontier League this summer. The 22-year-old dominated over his 20 innings there, striking out 32 batters with four walks on his ledger. He yielded just three earned runs and showcased his top-tier arsenal, setting the stage for Texas to select him as its first-round pick this past June.