The Rangers are about to have an enviable problem with its starting rotation

Ask any major league baseball club if a team can ever have too many good starting pitchers, and the answer will always be no. The Texas Rangers’ front office would no doubt echo that sentiment. And yet, with Kumar Rocker clearing another hurdle in his comeback from a shoulder impingement that landed him on the IL on April 24, Bruce Bochy’s squad officially has too many starting pitchers.

That might be why Bochy sounded more like a man who was stalling when asked Friday evening about Rocker’s possible return. Rocker went through a bullpen session on Thursday night and reported no discomfort.

Kumar Rocker nearing return, but Rangers rotation success leaves no clear opening

“He’s fine, good to go,” Bochy told the assembled media. “We’ve not completely determined what the next move is, whether he faces hitters [in a live batting practice session] or whether he pitches in games, but he’s ready to go.” On the one hand, the Texas Rangers manager would likely love to have a talented arm return to the rotation.

Conversely, there isn’t an obvious place to put Rocker right now. The Rangers’ starters were second in baseball in cumulative ERA coming into Friday night’s game. Then, in Game 2 of the Silver Boot series against the Houston Astros, Nate Eovaldi threw another 5.2 shutout innings on Friday night.

That might mean Texas will take things very slowly in the rehab route. He will almost certainly need to ramp up with some minor league innings since Rocker’s been out for nearly a month. He might get optioned to Round Rock officially after that, at least until someone like Jack Leiter shows his major league struggles are enough for him to get optioned.

It does appear Leiter would be the one to change places with Rocker, barring an injury. While the pitcher has electric stuff, he’s also had some control issues.

Whatever the Texas Rangers decide to do in the immediate future, despite Rocker getting off to a rough start to the 2025 season, the team expects him to be a very successful pitcher moving forward. Not having a spot to put him when he’s ready to return is definitely an enviable position.