The Rangers are moving closer to setting their Opening Day roster. They’ll break camp with touted young righties Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker in the rotation, president of baseball operations Chris Young revealed to the team’s beat (link via Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports). Veteran outfielder Kevin Pillar, who’d been a non-roster invitee in camp, will also make the club, while young outfielder and former top prospect Evan Carter is being optioned to Triple-A Round Rock.
Leiter and Rocker have now made the improbable rise from college teammates and top draft prospects at Vanderbilt to members of the same big league rotation. The path to get there was far rockier than most would’ve anticipated, though. Leiter was selected No. 2 overall in 2021 and has struggled with his command and susceptibility to home runs throughout his pro career. He posted an ERA north of 8.00 through 35 2/3 innings in last year’s MLB debut.
Rocker “fell” to the No. 10 pick after Leiter went to the Rangers but didn’t end up signing with the Mets, who raised concern over the state of Rocker’s elbow. Rather than return to college, Rocker pitched on the independent circuit and reentered the draft the following summer. Rocker’s stock was considered by most to be down considerably, so much so that it was a genuine shock to see Texas select him third overall. Less than a year later, Rocker required Tommy John surgery. The “Vandy Boys” collective stock had plummeted.
Fast forward, and it’s an entirely different story. Rocker looked outstanding across three minor league levels in his return from surgery and impressed enough to make his MLB debut late last year. Leiter has been the talk of Rangers camp, brandishing better velocity and sharper stuff en route to a 3.48 ERA in 20 2/3 Cactus League frames.
Even with strong spring performances, it would’ve been hard to envision both pitchers breaking camp. Multiple injuries paved the way for that to take place, however. Jon Gray broke his wrist when he was struck by a comebacker. Cody Bradford is sidelined by elbow soreness and won’t throw for a few weeks. Leiter and Rocker impressed enough that both will now begin the season in Bruce Bochy’s rotation. Given injury risks with rotation-mates Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle, it’s feasible that either could stick even when Gray and/or Bradford are healthy. Certainly, both young righties will have the opportunity to claim long-term spots on the staff.
Carter, 22, was a late-season revelation for the Rangers during their World Series-winning 2023 campaign. The 2020 second-rounder, then considered one of the sport’s top all-around prospects, debuted with a .306/.413/.645 slash in 23 games/75 plate appearances down the stretch and posted similarly excellent numbers in 72 postseason trips to the plate. Injuries hobbled Carter in 2024, however, leading to a disappointing .188/.272/.361 output in 188 plate appearances. He’s posted rough numbers in camp, too, slashing .154/.214/.205 in 42 turns at the dish.
The 36-year-old Pillar is batting .238/.292/.333 this spring. He’ll serve a backup role in the outfield, potentially platooning with Leody Taveras in center and/or logging some at-bats at designated hitter against left-handed pitching. Pillar hit .229/.291/.377 for the White Sox and Angels last season and is a career .255/.293/.406 hitter in parts of a dozen big league seasons.
No real surprise. Love Carter but he is not there yet for this season. So the Rangers bench will be Higgy, Smith, Pillar and who? Duran who has been awful, Haggerty who has not been an upgrade, Ornelas who has been extremely good or Foscue or do they recall Harris?
@rangers13
Duran was informed he made the team,per a post I just saw on X. I kinda wish they went to someone else
Agreed Duran was awful most of last year and worse in the spring. Ornelas, Carter, Harris, Osuna, Haggerty, Ahmed all would have been better choices.
I thought Pillar was retiring after last season? Did he have a little too much time with the family this winter?
He changed his mind. Baseball isn’t quite that easy to give up for some people.
His wife is pretty hot so I doubt that was the case. The million-plus was probably the deciding factor.
I had to look, and yes, they look like a nice family 🙂
No way Carter isn’t better than leody
My guess is they wouldn’t be able to get Carter the at bats he needs in the bigs. By sending him down he gets to play every day and make the adjustments he needs to.
How was he so good in 2023 and can’t get back to that level 2 years later?
Missed a lot of time last year with a back injury
@Reynaldo’s
The league didn’t have a book on Carter in 2023, He came from the Minors hot, jumping into the league the last 3/4 of the year riding his own hot streak and no one had a book on him yet, they do now and discovered he can’t hit lefties.
The majors are hard, also he’s been dealing with an apparently pretty serious lower back injury for a while, also he’s still only 22 years old
Carter is a surprise. But he’s gotta figure it out against lefties and get his 2023 rhythm again.
This is where calling up players too early can have its drawbacks. While he is working his way back, options are being used up. He only gets 3. They may have to make a decision on him when the options are gone, even though he will still be quite young. (still, they won the WS!)
The Vandy boys in the rotation together is exciting. Hopefully, Rocker just had a bad spring and can improve on last year.
That dude Rocker got some nasty stuff
Jump over and stomp what exactly? Their fans hopes and dreams?
The Rangers might be pioneering a model where roster decisions hinge on optimizing variance and flexibility over narrative-driven potential. Leiter and Rocker represent high-risk, high-reward dice rolls—put them in now, see if they spike, and cut bait if they don’t. Carter’s option to Triple-A preserves his ceiling while freeing a spot for Pillar’s floor, a low-cost stabilizer.
Come on. There shouldn’t be a comma before “too.” This is an archaic rule.