Texas Rangers Lose High Profile Prospect to Tommy John Surgery

Kumar Rocker, the No. 3 pick in the draft in 2022, will miss the rest of the season with Tommy John surgery, the team confirmed.

The Texas Rangers, in first place in the American League West at the major league level, got some dreadful minor league news on Tuesday, as they announced that top prospect Kumar Rocker will miss the season and undergo Tommy John surgery.

As a result of the timing, he's likely to miss most of next season as well. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweeted the news initially:

"Kumar Rocker is going to have Tommy John surgery later this week. More to come."

Kumar Rocker is going to have Tommy John surgery later this week. More to come

— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) May 16, 2023

Rocker was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2022 draft following a stint in independent ball, which followed a career at Vanderbilt. Rocker is officially the No. 9 prospect in the organization, per the MLB.com rankings.

More on him from MLB.com:

College baseball's biggest star during his time at Vanderbilt, Rocker spun a 19-strikeout no-hitter against Duke in the NCAA super regionals and won College World Series Most Outstanding Player honors as a freshman in 2019, then led NCAA Division I in wins (14) and strikeouts (179) in 2021. The Mets took him 10th overall that July and agreed to pay him a $6 million bonus before a post-Draft physical revealed shoulder and elbow issues that led the club to withdraw its offer. Rocker had shoulder surgery that September before returning to the mound and flashing his previous stuff in the independent Frontier League last spring. The Rangers stunned the industry by selecting him with the No. 3 pick in the 2022 Draft, then signed him for an under-slot $5.2 million and used the savings to pay MLB Pipeline's top-ranked pitcher (Brock Porter) a record $3.7 million in the fourth round.

Best known for his wipeout mid-80s slider with power and depth, Rocker beat hitters with it once again when he took the mound for short stints in the Arizona Fall League. Though his fastball sat in the mid-90s -- it has reached 99 mph in the past -- he struggled to throw it for strikes or miss bats when he did. He used those two pitches almost exclusively in the AFL, barely showing the plus low-80s curveball or average mid-80s changeup with sink he had in college.

The biggest difference between Rocker in the AFL compared to Vanderbilt is that he is working from a clearly lower arm slot, reinforcing concerns some teams have about the long-term health of his shoulder and elbow. The son of former NFL defensive lineman Tracy Rocker, he's physical and throws strikes but has just average command. He still has frontline starter upside if he gets back to what he was in college, but he also comes with a good deal of medical and reliever risk. 

That profile includes that final line about medical risk. Chris Young, Rangers GM, said to Grant that this was an acute injury and not related to anything previously seen in scans. He said there is risk with all pitching

At the time of this posting, the Rangers lead the Braves 3-1 in the sixth inning.

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