Rangers Top Pitching Prospects Must Rise to Occasion Following Rash of Injuries

With injuries to the starting rotation, the Texas Rangers will need top prospects to step up.

Nick Ziegler | Mar 20, 2025

Sep 26, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Texas Rangers pitcher Kumar Rocker (80) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. / Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images

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Texas Rangers

With the start of the regular season nearly here for the Texas Rangers, the team has suddenly had to deal with some injuries once again.

Arguably, the top storyline from 2024 was the amount of injuries that the team had to deal with. After winning the World Series the year prior, it was disappointing to see the franchise finish under .500 and miss the postseason.

This winter, the Rangers did a nice job making a couple of additions to their lineup, and they expected some of the injured pitchers to come back and create a strong rotation.

For most of the spring, it looked as if Texas was going to be heading into the year at near full health. However, Cody Bradford is now dealing with elbow soreness and Jon Gray was hit by a comebacker, resulting in a fractured wrist.

With two starters being down, players are going to have to step up for the Rangers.

Thomas Harrigan of MLB.com recently spoke about the injuries to the rotation that have created opportunities for some of the young pitchers in the organization to step up.

“With Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle also building back up after both missed most of 2023 and '24 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Leiter and Rocker could have plenty of opportunities to contribute this season.”

Texas is in a much better position this year compared to last because of the depth in the organization and that starts with a couple of their top prospects.

Both Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter have been highly talked about the last couple of years, and it appears like it will be their time to shine soon.

While a couple of weeks ago there was some uncertainty about either making the rotation and the idea of moving Leiter to become the closer was floated around by analysts, both might be in the rotation on Opening Day.

The two young right-handers have been teammates since their days in college and both will have the opportunity to prove themselves to begin the year.

Of the two, Leiter arguably has a bit more to prove, being a couple of years older than Rocker. However, with both being such high picks in the first round, it’s important for both to succeed for the franchise.

Even though injuries aren’t ideal for the Rangers again, having two first-round picks as replacements for the injured pitchers in the rotation is a great indication of their depth.

After the disappointing campaign in 2024 because of injuries, it’s unfortunate to see injuries once again being a storyline. However, the two top prospects should be more than capable of stepping up to fill the void in the rotation.

If both pitch well, it will be hard to take them out of the rotation.

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