The Rangers close out a disappointing 2022 with 4 against Aaron Judge at home: NYY@TEX 10/3-5

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The other teams all won. The new standings are as follows:

5. Royals 65-95 - play at Cleveland
6. Rangers 66-93 - play NY Yankees
7. Tigers 66-93 - play at Seattle
8. Rockies 67-93 - play at LA Dodgers
9. Marlins 68-92 - play Atlanta

 

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The Mets never informed Rocker what kept them from signing him. The signing deadline just came and went without any explanation. Below is an excerpt from an article about Kumar Rocker from The Athletic.

He claims the procedure was to address an old high school football injury, what he calls “a pretty standard shoulder clean-out” that might have ultimately been required “five years down the road.” Since the game had so rudely gifted him the time, he decided to have it fixed now, although it was also meant to clear up any misconceptions about his health. After the procedure, which was first reported by ESPN, Kumar’s agent Scott Boras declared that “we have a very clear understanding, after a minor scope, of Kumar’s medically documented health, which has allowed him to perform at the highest levels.”

The rehab period for that surgery is 12 months, Rocker says, but he proudly notes that he “came back in nine and I was throwing 99.” In between, he reworked his delivery. Rocker is big and strong, having inherited his father’s frame for football. (Tracy coaches for the Philadelphia Eagles and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2004 for his exploits as a defensive tackle for Auburn.) At 6-foot-4 and weighing between 240 and 260 pounds during his college days — he’s now a lean 242 — the younger Rocker had a tendency to raise his arm slot, putting more strain on his shoulder.

It hadn’t gone unnoticed. “You’re getting pushy,” Brown would tell him during his junior season. “You’re not as whippy with the arm.” Back in Georgia, his high school coaches thought he didn’t look right. So, even before he was cleared to throw in January, Rocker began working with a performance coach. Eugene Bleecker runs 108 Performance in Knoxville, Tenn., and preaches that “throwing is about rotational rate of force development.” He wants a pitcher’s arm to act like a whip, and Rocker’s had been working like a catapult. He’d bend forward at the waist, moving his head out of the way so his arm could fly over the top. “Everything was kind of pushing forward,” Bleecker says.

That was the diagnosis, but the cure would take months. Even before picking up a ball, Rocker would report to 108’s facility sometimes six days a week. In a long, small room with wood-paneled walls hanging with framed jerseys, he lofted a two-handled cylindrical tube of water onto his shoulders, performing exercise after exercise focusing on how he rotated his trunk.

It was grueling work, but work had never been an issue for Rocker. It was better than staying idle. In high school, he’d fetch the gym keys from his coach’s mailbox on weekend mornings and return them as the sun began to set. During the 2020 shutdown, he was so restless that he picked up a side hustle. For about three weeks, DoorDash users in his hometown of Knoxville had their food delivered by the future No. 3 pick. But this was different, the kind of repetitive, monotonous training required to rebuild yourself from the ground up. And it worked — when the time came to grasp the seams of a ball again, a lower arm slot came naturally.

By June, he was ready to pitch again. In his first start in the Frontier League, scouts immediately picked up on his new delivery, comparing it favorably to his high school mechanics. Rocker says he feels looser, like “the old-school pitchers, the Cy Young-looking guys.” The repaired shoulder had helped, too. “I had a better range of motion,” he says. “I was more smooth.” He made five starts with the ValleyCats, giving up just three earned runs and striking out 32 in 20 innings. They were maybe the 20 most important innings of his life. Without them, says Rangers amateur scouting director Kip Fagg, “it would have been a lot harder to take him.”

 

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Another excerpt from the article about Rocker:

Rocker is here for the fall league’s media day, his first appearance in front of prying eyes since his introductory Rangers press conference. (Rocker didn’t pitch any official innings after signing with the Rangers. Generally, the Rangers do not send out many draftees during their draft year, instead bringing them up to speed on pro ball at the team’s spring training complex.) It’s sparsely attended — this is the fall league, after all — but a smattering of cameras keep pointing his direction. At one point, Rocker dons his Rangers jersey top to take a posed photo alongside top Pirates prospect Quinn Priester. That he’ll make his debut in these uniforms, not ones that say Crawdads or RoughRiders, is a bonus. It makes it easier to envision himself in the big leagues.

Pitching in the fall league will be a small but crucial step in that direction. He’s been in Arizona for nearly two months, throwing bullpens and facing hitters as he prepares to debut, and scouts are interested in how he looks. One recently spotted Rocker in the stands during Rangers instructs. “He has a super imposing body when you see him and carries himself like an alpha,” says the scout, and Rocker will need that kind of swagger. While fall league crowds are notoriously thin, the competition isn’t. Several of the game’s top prospects play in the league each year, and Rocker will have less professional experience than just about every batter he faces.

But starting with his first pitch and with every subsequent one he delivers, the lingering questions about his health will be replaced by hard data. Rocker insists those doubts are not on his mind. “I don’t care about answering questions,” he says. “I don’t care about proving to anybody about anything.” Yet, even as he says that, he seems to be caught between two existences. There is the context-free present — just a pitcher on a baseball field — and then there’s the backdrop of everything else. He’s here to pitch for the team that wanted him, not to talk about the team that didn’t. “They gave me an opportunity to play,” he says of Texas. “They gave me a lot of money to play. I’m going to go play.” But the Mets will draw his attention at some point. One day, he’ll pitch against them. How will that feel? “It’s going to be lit,” Rocker answers. Then he quickly softens his response to something more non-committal. “It’s going to be what it is.”

 

[DT LUNA]

At this time our power hitters are all IF except Garcia. So what do you say about the OF? Smith and Leody have shown very little. Thompson is expected to hit with power but has yet to do so. Both Thompson, Smith and Leody have a lot of value with speed but is that enough to warrant keeping them in the OF? Keep Smith as a utility player in OF and IF. Garcia and Thompson remains in the OF. Leody is a question. What is your thoughts?

 

[True Rangers Fan]

At this time our power hitters are all IF except Garcia. So what do you say about the OF? Smith and Leody have shown very little. Thompson is expected to hit with power but has yet to do so. Both Thompson, Smith and Leody have a lot of value with speed but is that enough to warrant keeping them in the OF? Keep Smith as a utility player in OF and IF. Garcia and Thompson remains in the OF. Leody is a question. What is your thoughts?

I keep seeing so many people knock Smith for not having power. I don't want or need him to have power. Be a slap hitter who can get on base.

 

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Thompson is expected to hit with power but has yet to do so

Bubba was not really much more of a power hitter in the minors than Smith was.

 

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At this time our power hitters are all IF except Garcia. So what do you say about the OF? Smith and Leody have shown very little. Thompson is expected to hit with power but has yet to do so. Both Thompson, Smith and Leody have a lot of value with speed but is that enough to warrant keeping them in the OF? Keep Smith as a utility player in OF and IF. Garcia and Thompson remains in the OF. Leody is a question. What is your thoughts?

Leody has had far more big league at bats than either Bubba or Josh. It is really early to make any decisions on Leody and Josh.

 

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In the minors Bubba hit a HR in 3.1% of his at bats, and Josh hit a HR in 3.5 % of his at bats.

 

[Duane1952]

Is there something going on with Garcia. This is the third game in a row that he’s at DH.

 

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It's a good thing we brought in a third catcher so both Huff and Heim can play at the same time.

 

[Duane1952]

Heads up base running by Garcia.

 

[Duane1952]

It's a good thing we brought in a third catcher so both Huff and Heim can play at the same time.

Some of the things this organization does are head scratchers.

 

[scotsman1948]

Calhoun with the first RBI, as expected

and he couldn't even hit 90 feet. the ball traveled approximately 65 feet

 

[True Rangers Fan]

Is there something going on with Garcia. This is the third game in a row that he’s at DH.

betting he'll be in OF tonight.

 

[True Rangers Fan]

and he couldn't even hit 90 feet. the ball traveled approximately 65 feet

that's how good he is

 

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Judge is now 3 for 16 against the Rangers this year.

The Rangers and the Cardinals are the only two opponents that he has not hit a HR against.