Texas Rangers Morning Rundown: Kumar Rocker ends season as Rangers, A's end baseball in Oakland

The rookie right-hander shows improvement in his third career start in the final game at Oakland Coliseum, but the Rangers lose 3-2.

Well done, A’s fans. The Oakland Coliseum finale against the Texas Rangers did not go off the rails, even though a few knuckleheads tried to disrupt the game by coming onto the field.

Otherwise, a spirited crowd celebrated the franchise that is leaving the city and cursed the owner who forced the move. They also watched their A’s beat the Rangers 3-2 to close out baseball in Oakland.

All three runs were charged to rookie right-hander Kumar Rocker, who was making his third career start. He was an out away from completing five innings, and he would have had left fielder Wyatt Langford not lost a flyball in the sun.

That also allowed the eventual winning run to score, and, no, it was not an unearned run as the official scorer apparently decided that no A’s would reach base via error in their final game there.

Rocker allowed seven hits and didn’t issue any walks, so maybe he overcorrected in his efforts to be in the strike zone more than in his second career start. The command of his curveball still seemed a tad off.

But he will take away lessons from this one, too, and he has a bit of a baseline to work from as he heads into offseason workouts. Toppling the list: His command must be better.

The Rangers have a small sample size on Rocker, but it’s likely enough to determine that he should be in their rotation to open next season. Rocker will encounter some bumps in his first full big-league season (and professional season) and will work on an innings limit, but he’s going to be good.

The Rangers weren’t good enough offensively and dropped yet another road series. They finish their season this weekend at Anaheim, which was is coming off a three-game sweep at … the White Sox.

Yikes.

No start for Leiter

The Rangers need a starter for the season finale Sunday, and they decided it would not be Jack Leiter making the start.

Leiter was the first man out of the bullpen Thursday, replacing his former Vanderbilt teammate Rocker. Either the Rangers would rather see Dane Dunning start, which doesn’t make a lot of sense, or they are limiting Leiter’s innings.

He’s at 112 innings this season, 77 of them at Triple A Round Rock, after throwing 92 2/3 and 85 the past two seasons.

That’s the most reasonable explanation. Trying to protect the bullpen doesn’t fly. If the Rangers felt they were short on relievers Thursday, Dunning could have done exactly what Leiter did.

Leiter was better than he was last week in allowing seven runs (six earned) in five innings to the Mariners. He tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings and pitched his way out of trouble in the eighth, stranding a runner at third with one out.

If that’s it for him in 2024, and it should be, he finished the season on a high note. Fans might not have cared for how Leiter pitched in the majors, but he was definitely better over the past month than he was in his first three MLB starts in May.

Remember: Players develop at their own pace (see Cruz, Nelson), and Leiter took a big step in his development this season. Don’t make him a reliever yet. Don’t give up on him yet.

Card of the Week

The greatest Oakland A’s player of all time is up for debate, with Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, Sal Bando, the Bash Bros., Jason Giambi and others among the contenders. But only one player had the field at Oakland Coliseum named for him: Rickey Henderson.

Henderson was a rookie in 1979 and played 14 of his 21 MLB seasons with the A’s. Furthermore, he grew up in Oakland, so he’s Oakland through and through.

As such, on following the A’s final game in Oakland, the Card of the Week is Henderson’s 1980 Topps rookie card.

His rookie card is not part of my collection but would make a wonderful Christmas gift, ahem family and friends.

In 1980, Henderson stole 100 bases and batted .303 with a .420 on-base percentage. He also walked 117 times while struck out only 54 times.

He was on his way to the Hall of Fame. His power developed later in his career, and the speed, the pop and the incredible command of the strike zone made him one of the greatest leadoff hitters in baseball history.

Henderson, in his own unique way, has also been a terrific ambassador for the franchise. It will be interesting to see if that continues in Sacramento and ultimately Las Vegas. I would assume so, though maybe he’ll play the first season under protest.

Doggy video!

CC: Mrs. Wilson. Enjoy.

Jeff Wilson, jwilson@alldlls.com