Pair of Vanderbilt alumni shine in exciting night for Rangers' pitching development

On Thursday night, former Vanderbilt teammates Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker in the Texas Rangers' farm system. Both are at pretty different places in their development, with Leiter having made his MLB debut but needed some work on his command, while Rocker is only a few starts off Tommy John and missing a full season of baseball. But on Thursday night they both gave hope to Rangers fans for the organization's pitching development.

Starting with Leiter, it's no secret he struggled pretty mightily when called up earlier this season. His command (and specifically fastball command) was off. He had looked good through spring training and early in the Triple-A season leading to his call up, but in his three starts with the big league team, it just didn't translate.

But there's some reason for a renewed sense of optimism around Leiter coming off his most dominant performance of his professional career. Leiter was fresh off two weeks of rest on Thursday night and he came out like a man on a mission. He recorded 11 outs in his 3 2/3 innings pitched, every single one a strikeout. He only threw 62 pitches as part of managing his workload and only allowed one hit, one walk, and one earned run to go with his 11 strikeouts.

A little cherry on top to Leiter's dominant performance? His velocity was higher than it's ever been. Per Leiter's Baseball Savant page, his fastball has been averaging 96 mph this year and his slider 86 mph. During his performance Thursday, Leiter touched 100 multiple times with his fastball and 90 with his slider. The increased velocity and ability to get swing and miss gives hope that Leiter will fare better in his next opportunity with the big club, possibly as early as September with the Rangers out of contention.

Leiter's former Vanderbilt teammate, Kumar Rocker, had a similarly encouraging performance himself. Rocker's start comes as one in a string of great outings he's had since returning from Tommy John. Rocker has made three starts for Double-A Frisco since his return and just gave up his first earned run for the RoughRiders. He's logged 17 strikeouts and just two walks across 12 innings pitched in those three starts in Frisco while allowing just five total hits across the same span.

Positive outings from these two can give Rangers fans some of hope of quality homegrown pitching possibly coming soon, which is something the Rangers have struggled with a lot lately — particularly on the starting pitching front. Add Emiliano Teodo with these two and there's real reason for optimism on the Rangers pitching development.

It comes at a good time as well. The Rangers' rotation has to get younger. The current rotation is old, injury prone, and pretty expensive. Younger and less worn out arms are needed, and with the Rangers being tight on money these days it would be ideal if they came from the organization's minor league ranks so they are controllable and cost-effective.