Cal Quantrill's brilliance could set up a Rangers domino effect that leads to Kumar Rocker decision

Expectations certainly weren't high for Cal Quantrill when he signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers at the end of July. The right-hander was coming off a year in 2025 in which he posted a 6.04 ERA between stints with the Miami Marlins and the Atlanta Braves. The 31-year-old seemed to have fallen a long way since he was the Cleveland Guardians' 2022 ALDS Game 1 starter.

The right-hander first found a niche in the bullpen, but then transitioned to the rotation following Jack Leiter's injury and began to show out. At first, it felt like smoke and mirrors, and that the other shoe would drop at any time.

However, his downfall has not come. Quantrill has now made nine starts on the season and punctuated that with his best start yet last night, throwing seven shutout innings while allowing four hits, no walks, and striking out five. He now has a 2.64 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP when pitching out of the rotation.

Jacob deGrom survived his injury scare without an IL stint and will be back on the mound tomorrow to close out the series against the Washington Nationals. Jack Leiter is making antoher rehab start tonight and should return to action soon. Suddenly the rotation is starting to look a little crowded.

Even before Nathan Eovaldi can return from the IL, someone is about to get the boot and move to the bullpen. The man who might be on the thinnest ice is tonight's starter, Kumar Rocker, and strangely, it could be the best thing for both him and the team.

Cal Quantrill's stellar performance could force Kumar Rocker to the Rangers bullpen, giving the unit a boost

Rocker has been up and down all season, but lately he's just been struggling. Since July 1, the 26-year-old has made seven starts and logged 36 innings, while posting a 6.00 ERA.

Texas is fighting for its playoff life, and therefore the club can no longer afford to deal with Rocker's growing pains or hope that he can snap out of his funk and build consistency. Long-term, the hope is that he can still realize his once sky-high potential, but now is the time for pragmatism.

That means he, not Quantrill, should be banished to the bullpen once Leiter returns, and there is reason to believe that this simply wouldn't be a move to benefit the rotation. There's an actual reason to believe that Rocker could thrive in a bullpen role.

The big righty has a four-pitch repertoire, but not all of those offerings are created equal. Rocker's slider has been worth a run value of six this season, ranking in the 90th percentile. It's held batters to a paltry .187 batting average and produced a 40.7% whiff rate. It's an elite offering that he goes to 38.4% of the time this season.

His next two most common offerings are his sinker (29.4%) and cutter (14.5%). Both pitches have been torched. His sinker has yielded a .322 average and .483 slugging percentage, while the cutter comes in with a .327 average and .577 slugging percentage. Essentially, 43.9% of the time, he's throwing meatballs.

His four-seamer has been more effective despite him only going to it 12.7% of the time. Hitters are batting .240 with a .480 slugging percentage against the heater, but it carries an xBA of .219 and a hard-hit rate of just 31.4%.

In the rotation, Rocker needs the sinker and the cutter (though one can quibble with the usage rates) to navigate a lineup multiple times. In the bullpen, he'd be able to hone in on only what works for him.

If the Rangers were to move him to the 'pen, Rocker could spam sliders and use the four-seamer to keep hitters honest. It could potentially be a lethal combination. The Rangers didn't go out and get the veteran high-leverage reliever we had hoped for, but they might be able to make one with Rocker. A glut is coming, and it should be Rocker, not Quantrill, who gets moved. Doing so could double the payoff.

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