The Texas Rangers have two young pitchers who have won a first-day rotation spot that could end up in hardware at the end of the year.
Athletic baseball staff recently gathered to predict the 2025 Baseball Awards. Detroit Tigers’ Hurler Jackson Job was popular to win the Al Rookie of the Year award, but two Rangers pitchers were also predicted.
Kumar Rocker was tied up in third place with three.
Jack Reiter was tied to sixth place as one of four players who received one vote.
It is interesting that the lockers are chosen more to win. Because these two now have extremely opposite momentum.
The 25-year-old rocker made his MLB debut last year, earning a 3.86 ERA with 14 strikeouts in his first 11.2 innings. It’s not something else in a different world, but it was a solid start.
He came back this spring and shook.
His strikeout count remained strong, but he gave up 15 hits and 13 runs scored in nine innings.
We climbed slowly, but as spring passed he began to look a little better, squealing eight Colorado Rockies batsmen in 4.2 innings.
Leiter is the opposite, lit up by MLB competition when he debuted last season, but appears ready to dominate with a 3.48 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 20.2 innings.
The biggest difference is that he added both kick changes and two-seamers to his pitch mix over the offseason, and it appears they can change his outcome.
The change in kicks is a growth trend, and writers who improve as pitchers may develop it further. His speed has also risen all over, so if he can dial a little more control, he can turn into a real star.
Both the lockers and writers increased after they created their first day’s roster.
And while each one is meant to bring together an award-winning campaign, each one needs to find consistency.
