Rangers righty made his Spring Training debut today against the Royals. The results werent good he allowed four runs in his inning of work but thats inconsequential this early in camp. As writes, manager Bruce Bochy and GM Chris Young have left open the po sibility for Rocker to break camp. That might require an injury elsewhere in the rotation, however, as it seems Rocker enters Spring Training sixth on the depth chart. Texas has a veteran top four: , , and . The fifth spot could come down to a battle between Rocker and left-hander with the latter potentially having the leg up. Were going to see where we come out of camp, where we are from a medical standpoint, whos healthy, how guys have thrown the ball, but (Rocker is) certainly one that is in our plans , Young said. We just cant Jahlil Okafor Jersey tell you exactly how at this point. The third overall pick in the 2022 draft, Rocker earned a brief debut last September. He started three games, allowing six runs (five earned) through 11 2/3 innings. The 65 righty recorded 14 strikeouts with an excellent 13.3% swinging strike rate. Its an exceedingly small sample, but he looks capable of mi sing bats at the highest level. Rocker averaged 96 MPH on his heater, while opponents had few answers for his slider. The latter pitch may already be one of the games top breaking balls. graded the slider as a plus-plus offering (70 on the 20-80 scale) while ranking Rocker among their top 20 prospects. The 25-year-old will certainly be a factor at some point this season, though it remains to be seen how the Rangers want to handle his workload. Rocker underwent Tommy John surgery in 2023 and has all of 19 profe sional appearances under his belt. He has tallied fewer than 30 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. Rocker carved up minor league hitters upon returning from the surgery, working to a 1.96 ERA with 55 strikeouts in 36 2/3 frames over 10 appearances. The 27-year-old Bradford has almost the polar opposite approach. Hes a soft-to sing lefty who relies on a plus changeup and elite command. Despite lacking huge stuff, Bradford turned in a 3.54 ERA with a solid 22.7% strikeout rate over 76 1/3 innings last season. A back injury cost him three months, but he was a quietly productive starter when healthy. Both Rocker and Bradford have minor league options remaining. While remains on hand as well, hes likelier to pitch in long relief after a rough 24 season. Theres no doubt about Eovaldis role. Hell be back in the top half of the rotation after re-signing on a three-year, $75MM free agent deal. The 13-year MLB veteran has been incredibly consistent, turning in a sub-4.00 ERA in five straight seasons. That hasnt stopped him from using exhibition play to tinker with his arsenal. Eovaldi told reporters last week that he has been working on a two-seam fastball throughout the offseason ( ). The righty confirmed that he used it a few times in his Spring Training debut on Friday against Kansas City. tracked five of his pitches as sinkers (which is the two-seam fastball) over two innings. Eovaldi has had a five-pitch mix for most of his career: four-seam, splitter, cutter, curveball and a slider that he only throws against right-handed hitters. He told Landry and other reporters that hell continue to work on the two-seam, which he wants to run up and in against righty batters to keep them off the splitter lower in the zone. One player who has yet to get his exhibition season underway: second-year left fielder . was among those to report last week that Langford was being held back from baseball activities for a few days after being diagnosed with a mild oblique strain. Bochy maintained that the Rangers consider this a minor setback and anticipate that Langford will be ready for Opening Day. Hell look to build off a solid rookie season in which he hit .253/.325/.415 with 16 homers acro s 557 plate appearances. Christian Wood Jersey