Matthew Harris

Kumar Rocker is done for the evening, as he logged his first Cactus League start since February. Rocker allowed 1 run, 3 hits, 2 walks, and struck out 6 in his 4 innings of work on 70 pitches. Rocker struggled a bit with fastball command, but was still able to rack up 9 of his 10 whiffs on his slider. He also makes up for his fastball command, by being very consistent in his ability to land his sinker (his better fastball in my opinion) for strikes. It wasn’t a complete Royals lineup tonight, but Rocker definitely did more than enough to keep him in competition for the 5th starter role as spring comes to a close soon.

Mackenzie Gore is done for the night after his Cactus League outing against the White Sox. Gore struck out 3 in his 4.1 innings pitched, allowing 2 hits, 3 walks, and 0 runs. It wasn’t the smoothest outing Gore will have in a Rangers uniform, but he put up zeroes and his shapes looked solid. The struggles from Gore stemmed mainly from his iffy fastball command. 35.3% Zone% isn’t going to cut it, but he didn’t really have any waste pitch misses that I saw. He also could have benefited from one or two of the challenges that the Rangers hitters used up in the first 2 innings. One of the keys for Gore’s season is to slightly decrease his fastball usage and throw a diverse mix of secondary pitches to back it up. While I do think 44% fastball is definitely on the higher end of where it should be, it’s definitely good to see it at least lower than 45%. Gore will definitely have wanted to have a sharper evening, but it’s still good progress as we inch closer and closer to the start of the season.

Jack Leiter’s day is done in today’s Cactus League contest against the artist formerly known as the Oakland A’s. It was a strong performance from Jack, as he picked up 6 strikeouts and 0 walks on 57 pitches in 5 innings of work. Jack allowed 5 hits and 2 runs on 2 solo home runs, but really did well to ensure those were anomalous and the only runs he allowed. It was a really diverse pitch mix day for Jack as he really had everything working, but it was his slider especially that was virtually unhittable (71.4% Whiff%) to righties today. This was one of the first times I’ve seen Jack pitch where he’s not using his fastball as his strikeout pitch. Today it was used more as a set up pitch for his slider and changeup, to great effect. What also helps those pitches play up is that Jack got up to 99.6 mph on his fastball today. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t talk about his strikeout in the 3rd inning of Max Muncy (no, not that one). Jack got a 3-pitch-strikeout on 3 straight sinkers. You see that little cluster of 3 sinkers with significantly more arm-side run than the other sinkers? Yeah those are the 3 sinkers Jack used in his strikeout of Muncy. He threw those sinkers at 97, 99, and 99 mph respectively and they graded out at 75 on the 20-80 scale. I’m unsure at the moment if that’s a grip change or just a case of just really letting it rip, but I very much would like to see if Jack can achieve that shape consistently. If he is able to do so, then it would turn his sinker into a legitimate weapon to use in any situation, not to just get in on the hands of righties.

@ProspectTimes It brings me great joy to see Collyer doing as well as he has been

Name one Texas Rangers player that has impressed you the most this spring.

It was honestly an impressive outing from Kumar Rocker, as he came on in relief for Jacob deGrom in today’s Cactus League action. Rocker allowed 3 hits, 2 runs, walked 0, and struck out 5 on 47 pitches in his 4 innings of work. Rocker did run into some trouble in his 3rd inning of work, but immediately bounced back with a 1-2-3 inning with 2 strikeouts before exiting the contest. Even when breaking down what went wrong in his 3rd inning, I wouldn’t even necessarily say he did anything “wrong.” The home run he allowed was hit 385 to left center field and would have been a deep fly out at GLF. He then allowed back-to-back singles on a sinker to a right-handed hitter, and a cutter to a left-handed hitter. Both of which I would consider the correct pitch for the situation, and I would even say were located decently well. Sometimes you can throw a pitch exactly how you want and where you want and it’ll still result in a base hit. That’s just how baseball goes sometimes. I was really pleased to see how well Rocker pitched in the zone today. When both his sinker and cutter can be consistent strike pitches for him is when he’s at his best. Of course I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about his slider. He’s brought the deathball shape back, and the results speak for themselves. So far this spring, Rocker has gotten Chase and Whiff rates of 53.6% and 32.1% respectively on his slider. Today, he exceeded those rates with a ridiculous 72.7% Chase% and impressive 41.7% Whiff%. I still have Latz penciled in for that 5th starter role, but it was very reassuring seeing a performance like this from Rocker and gives me confidence in his abilities should he be called upon for a spot start at some point this season.

Jacob deGrom is done for the day in what is his first official Cactus League action, and he looked like Jacob deGrom. deGrom picked up 5 strikeouts in 3 innings, and allowed 2 hits and 1 walk on 43 pitches. It was a slider heavy day for deGrom, but he also threw a good amount of changeups and even flashed his sinker he introduced in his last outing. The sinker is an interesting addition to deGrom’s arsenal, due to that fact that if he was going to introduce a new pitch I would imagine a cutter would be a good candidate given his 2025 2nd half tendency to leak home runs to left-handed hitters. Regardless, it’s yet another weapon in his toolbox to help him continue terrorizing right-handed hitters into 2026.

Carter Baumler saw some more Cactus League action today, going 2 innings while allowing 2 hits and 0 earned runs. No strikeouts for Baumler today, but he did really well getting several weakly hit groundouts. The most assuring part of his outing was when his right fielder dropped what would have been the last out in his 2nd inning, he had a quick reset with Jordan Tiegs and quickly got the 3rd out. Especially for someone with zero big league innings, seeing Baumler be able to immediately lock back in and not let the inning get out of hand when hit with adversity is great to see.

Updated card for Gavin Collyer who goes more than 1 inning for the first time this spring:

Gavin Collyer got another inning of work today in the Cactus League, and he continues to impress. Collyer picked up 2 strikeouts and allowed just 1 hit and 0 walks on 18 pitches. Collyer showed some really impressive command today, which is great to see since he really needs to rack up performances like that to prove he’s able to be relied upon in a big league bullpen.

@LogmanIsJ Definitely, but you can hide that flaw better when you throw 99. It’s not to say he can’t get outs anymore, but more so that he’s lost his margin for error.

@MattHarris I mean of course his fastball command has always been an issue

It’s not where he was before his shoulder injury, but this is certainly the best Josh Sborz has looked since then. Reduced velocity coupled with his subpar fastball command have me hesitant to put him in any high leverage situation, but this version of Josh Sborz can definitely get you outs at the big league level.

Jack Leiter’s day is done in Arizona as he got up to 61 pitches in today’s Cactus League encounter with the Mariners. Jack allowed 2 runs on a couple solo homers, but struck out 4 and walked 0 in his 3.2 innings. Jack was able to rack up 10 whiffs today, and threw some very good righty-righty changeups (a pitch I very much want him to throw more of this year). He also got up to 86 on a couple curveballs which was very good to see. He mainly sat around 96 on his fastball today, but got up to 99. What really stands out to me is his cutter sitting at a 80% Zone% on 5 cutters thrown, which is exactly what that pitch should be for Jack this year. It’s not going to grade out crazy well, but it’s a pitch he can land for consistent strikes to lefties. He’s not going to throw very many, but it will help keep him from falling too far behind in counts. It was a much better start from Jack simply from a command perspective, and for spring training that’s really what you want to be seeing.

Leandro Lopez recorded another outing in the Cactus League tonight, as he thoroughly impressed in his 2.1 innings in relief. Lopez picked up 6 strikeouts on 44 pitches, and also allowed 1 run and 0 walks. Despite grading out poorly, Lopez’s outings largely depend on his fastball command. Lopez had a Zone% of 64.3% on his fastball tonight, which helped him pick up whiff rates of 57.1% and 50% on his slider and curveball respectively. Lopez is my personal favorite pitcher on the farm, and it’s nights like tonight that only further affirm that belief.

Carter Baumler got in another inning of work in the Cactus League today. No strikeouts for Baumler but he filled up the zone with each of his pitches, which is very impressive to see. Baumler’s fastball velocity was very slightly down today, but it was still more than good enough to be able to set up his slider and curveball to get soft contact, as the only hit he allowed was hit 67 mph. I still can’t say I feel comfortable handing the closer job to someone who’s never pitched above AA, but what I will say is he’s most certainly earned the opportunity to pitch high leverage innings when the season rolls around.

Kumar Rocker’s day is done after pitching 3 innings in relief for Jacob deGrom today. Rocker allowed 7 hits and 1 run on 49 pitches, while also striking out 1 and walking 0. Rocker broke out his cutter for the first time this spring and it looked quite good, especially paired with his death ball slider shape. Rocker really only got beat up on his fastball today, and then one hanging changeup. It would have been more comforting to see better sinker command, but I think Rocker did a good job of getting a ground ball when he needed one. It’s telling, to me at least, that Rocker pitched in relief today while Jacob Latz continues to get Cactus League starts. It feels as though the organization is subtly tipping where they both stand in regard to the 5th starter job, and I can’t say I disagree.

Jacob deGrom made his 2026 Cactus League debut, and he looked like Jacob deGrom. deGrom made it a bit of a habit allowing solo HR to lefties in the 2nd half of last season, so it’s nice to see he’s a man of tradition and picked up right where he left off. In all seriousness, what’s really important in these spring starts is velocity and command and deGrom showed no signs of decline in that regard. deGrom picked up 3 strikeouts in his 2 innings, collecting 7 whiffs on 39 pitches. He showed great command and was ripping 94 mph sliders in his first spring start, so I’d say deGrom is right where he needs to be in his ramp up for this season.

@MasonHovind_TXR I can see it a little bit in the hands specifically, but the swing itself and follow through are more Ohtani-like to me.

@MattHarris Ahhhh that’s what I was wondering, I did get a tiny bit of an Altuve vibe I’m not gonna lie.

Man, SJK’s swing looking eerily similar to a certain someone’s…

@MasonHovind_TXR (This is not a direct comparison, the stance and swing just look similar to me)

@MattHarris Does this person play in the same state🤔