Texas Rangers Morning Rundown: Jacob deGrom's return more important than Kumar Rocker's debut

If deGrom is healthy throughout 2025, he will make the Rangers a contender again.

SEATTLE — Kumar Rocker was solid Thursday night in his MLB debut. Really solid.

The former Texas Rangers first-round pick used his fastball-slider combination to make life tough on Mariners hitters, limiting them to only one run on three hits in four innings. Seattle hitters struck out seven times.

He was as cool as a seasoned pro in the first inning after the first two batters he faced in his major-league career singled and were at second and third with no outs.

Rocker’s first big-league start rates as one of the biggest moments of the Rangers’ season, and his brief stint over the final three weeks of September will serve as his launching pad into 2025.

The same can be said for what will transpire tonight at T Mobile Park, where right-hander Jacob deGrom is scheduled to make his 2024 debut. What hasn’t been said is that it’s more important to the 2025 Rangers than Rocker’s debut.

“We’re all excited to see him,” manager Bruce Bochy said.

DeGrom was already nervous Thursday afternoon. He’s not concerned that his elbow won’t hold up after his second Tommy John surgery 15 months ago, but he’s excited and ready to compete.

“I’ve always had a tough time falling asleep before I pitch,” deGrom said. “It’s been a long time. I’m excited to be back out there. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. It feels like it’s been forever.”

Just as was the case with Rocker, it’s probably wise to lower expectations. DeGrom is going to be great at times and probably wish he could get a few pitches back. He’s going to have some extra juice running through him, though he said that goes away once he hits the field.

He won’t be tossing a complete game. He might not get out of the fourth inning, depending on his workload. He didn’t get past four innings in any of his four rehab starts.

Whatever deGrom does will be a welcomed sight. His return to the mound is about 2025, and the Rangers already have expectations of contending for the postseason a year from now.

DeGrom is a major part of that, moreso than Rocker. The Rangers will be cautious with both in 2025, but deGrom has the pedigree of navigating a full season whereas Rocker doesn’t even have 100 professional innings yet.

Rocker might not get much more than 100 next season.

If the Rangers can get 150 innings out of deGrom next season, they will be contenders. Tonight is the first step toward that while being the final step in his rehab process.

“The goal is always to go out there and put up zeroes,” he said. “That’s how I’ve always taken the mound. Play the game within the game and see how many times I hit the glove and execute.

“I always that thought it was big being out there this year, facing major-league hitters and kind of proving to yourself you can go out there and compete.”

So long, Corey

Shortstop Corey Seager will undergo surgery at some point today in Phoenix to have a second sports hernia, this time on his right side. With the Rangers’ playoff chances all but gone, it makes sense to do it now.

The Rangers learned last offseason that there is no improvement with a sports hernia. Seager learned, after having surgery Jan. 30 on the left side, that it’s not good to go into a 162-game season without a full offseason and significant reps in spring training.

General manager Chris Young said that Seager should be 100 percent by the start of spring training, though that doesn’t mean that the Rangers won’t take it easy on him early in camp.

Hopefully, Seager will rejoin the team at some point on the final homestand or the last road trip. He usually doesn’t have a lot to say, but it’s always nice to hear from the team’s best player.

Even though Seager was delayed in spring training, not playing for the first time until the day camp broke, and struggled in April, he still managed 30 home runs and an .864 OPS, both of which lead the team.

He wasn’t as good as he was in 2023, when he was the runner-up for the AL MVP, but he should be the Rangers Player of the Year.

On the road again

The astute reader noticed the dateline on this morning’s roundup, and those who are weighing if they should become a DLLS Diehard member should take note that DLLS is Seattle.

If news breaks, as was the case with Rocker and is the case tonight with deGrom, there’s a good chance that DLLS will be there. The same goes for the other three major professional teams that we cover, and that’s already been proven with our coverage of the Cowboys’ season-opener at Cleveland.

We’re not here to screw around.

As for Seattle, I hadn’t been here since before the pandemic. The ballpark is largely the same, though the press box gave way to a club. Media is up a floor in a smaller press box, and the Mariners still open the windows for every game.

They also switched to Coke products from Pepsi, so that’s an upgrade.

DLLS is returning to T Mobile tonight, will head home for the weekend, and will be back on the road for the final series of the season. Sign up now.

Card of the Week

Good buddy Anthony Andro hit eBay earlier this week to see if he could find any reasonably priced Rocker rookie cards and succeeded. The market for the 2022 Bowman Draft 1st Bowman appears to be taking off.

Multiple cards were listed between $100 and $1,400 as of Thursday night. The one that caught my eye is this blue refractor auto, numbered 141/150.

Pretty sharp, right? I don’t know it’s $500 sharp, but if prices are surging, it might be best to wait Rocker out.

My old neighbor, Bill Sliheet of Superior Sports Investments, would likely advise to wait until Rocker gets into his first full season or before making any heavy buys.

The buzz could wear off, which would cause prices to sink, or the market will become more flooded and cause a dip.

The good news is that our son caught up to Rocker two springs ago and got a chrome version autographed.

He also doesn’t check eBay as much as his dad does, so he won’t be knocking on my door anytime soon asking for this beauty.

Doggy video!

That’s two good boys. Enjoy.

He was teaching them how to play fetch with the dog and… pic.twitter.com/FuQFsKgMlm

— B&S (@_B___S) September 12, 2024

Jeff Wilson, jwilson@alldlls.com