Kumar Rocker has a clear path to AL Rookie of the Year if he wants it

The 2025 rookie class is projecting to be a heavyweight fight for the Rookie of the Year award. The projected favorites include top prospects Jackson Jobe, Roman Anthony, Jasson Dominguez among others. Texas Rangers young pitcher Kumar Rocker places among the top candidates to win the award.

When it comes to Kumar Rocker, there is no doubt in the stuff. With a high-90's four seam fastball that plays well in all quadrants of the strike zone, an absolute wipeout slider, along with a sinker, curveball, and changeup. Rocker predominantly threw the fastball and slider during his brief big league stint at the end of last year and the outcome was promising.

What can hold Rocker back in achieving this goal?

The main concern isn't what Rocker can throw, but how many times he can pitch in 2025. Rocker was the number three pick in the 2022 MLB draft and ever since he was drafted, hasn't pitched a fully uninterrupted professional season.

His injury problems originated in 2021 when the Mets passed on signing Rocker after selecting him 10th overall due to concerns with his elbows health. Eventually in 2023, Rocker underwent Tommy John surgery while pitching in the Rangers' farm system. The last time we publicly saw Rocker in a fully healthy season was in 2021 when Rocker was forming a legendary college duo with fellow Rangers teammate Jack Leiter.

When Rocker was healthy again in 2024, we saw a stretch that was one of the most impressive runs by a Rangers home grown prospect that we have seen in a long time. After three warmup outings in rookie ball, Rocker took over Double-A and Triple-A in his next seven outings, then the big leagues to a promising level of success.

How can Rocker become the third AL ROY winner in Rangers history?

To carry this run of success over into 2025 the biggest key in how Rocker can win Rookie of the Year is health. With a healthy season, the strikeouts will come in full force. Guidance from pitchers who are making strides to return or have returned from the same injury such as Tyler Mahle, Jacob DeGrom and Nathan Eovaldi will be massive for the young right hander.

While Rocker may not project to be like Paul Skenes, he does project to be a high-level strikeout pitcher that is big league ready and has a high level defense behind him. The defense includes Gold Glover Marcus Semien at second base, Adolis Garcia in right field, Evan Carter joining him in the outfield, along with above average defenders in Corey Seager and Josh Jung on the left side of the infield.

A pitcher-friendly Globe Life Park will also help out Rocker on his path to the award.

A big piece to Rocker's Rookie of the Year campaign is just being himself. Rocker feeds of his own success and showcases a fiery personality that fans can gravitate towards and players can feed off of. He has supreme confidence in his ability and his ability to get anybody out on any pitch.

He has been a high-level prospect ever since high school, even being drafted 3 times, twice in the first round. There is a reason that he was highly coveted throughout his amateur career, the Rangers just get to be the lucky beneficiary of his services.

Winning the 2025 Rookie of the Year award is an uphill battle for all of those in contention with the level of talent vying for the award. With a clean bill of health, strikeout numbers that project high, and a good defense with a pitcher-friendly park I expect Kumar Rocker to not only contend for the award, but become the third Texas Ranger to win the award.