Texas Rangers to promote Jack Leiter, Kumar Rocker as Jacob deGrom makes first rehab start

the Rangers twin Vandy boy potential future Aces have had some incredible last couple weeks and rightly earned their promotions plus we're going talk about what Jacob De Grom looked like in his first Rehab start let's get into it you are locked on Rangers your daily Texas Rangers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day [Music] you are locked on to the World Series champion Texas Rangers I'm Bryce Patrick a cripplingly addicted Texas Rangers Fan covering this team for 11 seasons including all six as the founder and host of this podcast thank you all so much for making lockdown Rangers your first listen every single day if you're not already you can follow me on Twitter at Bryce Patrick you can follow the show at lockon Rangers Hit subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and on YouTube where the best way you can help gr the show is to comment nearly any single thing below now before we get into today's episode talking about the promotions for Kamar rocker for Jack lighter and Jacob the Gram's First Rehab start after that elbow surgery this episode is brought to you by supplyhouse.com supplyhouse.com is the reliable way to get parts fast shop your next Plumbing HVAC or electrical job and get fast shipping from coast Coast at supplyhouse.com now the Rangers last night after Jacob De gr's First Rehab start they unveil unveiled some news broken by Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News talking about the two Vandy boys the potential future twin Aces dare I say dare I say I'll say at least one potential future Ace among that group but those two will not be pitching on the same team like I thought they would their next turn through the rotation because Jack lighter is coming up to the big leagues back to the big leagues after after a dominant couple of starts I'll talk more about him in the second segment but Kamar rocker showed after his last start on Wednesday where I was in attendance the second week in a row second start in a row and boy howdy did it look like he had absolutely nothing left to prove against doua hitters and Rangers and Chris Young said yep yeah there's there's nothing more for you to learn here so he is heading up to the AAA Round Rock Express what is very exciting about that number one is that Kamar rocker is healthy and looking good consistent and confident and that is amazing and the most important and best thing of that but secondary to that I'm also really excited that he is going to be pitching in a stadium with trackman data so we will know exact velocities of what he is throwing exact pitch types of what he is throwing it when he is throwing it not having to trust my eye and my scouting eye on exactly what he's throwing it and when when he's throwing the Sinker when he he's throwing the for seam when it's the curveball versus what they will probably deem as a slider it's not too different breaking balls it is the same breaking ball it is a similar thing as to what amelon tooto throws in that well they both grip it like a curve ball actually I'm not sure about toota but I know that Kamar rocker is gripping that breaking ball like a curve ball but he's able to manipulate it to throw it either faster or slower depending on what he's trying to get out of it whether it's you know more spin more you know vertical movement more accuracy whatever he's able to do he manipulates it incredibly well and it is probably the best non-fast ball pitch in the Rangers minor league system it's between his breaking ball and amelon tooto both of those are just incredible breaking balls but I mean this is the guy that the Rangers dreamt of when they drafted him third overall I know that they signed him below slot value to give a bunch of money to Brock Porter two guys that were both firstr talents and hoping that one of them would hit and while Brock Porter's season and maybe even his career have kind of gone way off the rails this year brocker has gone in the opposite direction he has gone nowhere but up I mean the reason that this guy fell so far on Prospect list and Prospect boards was because of concerns about well right concerns about his delivery that first year after the Rangers drafted him when he pitched in the Arizona fall league I don't claim to be an expert in pitching mechanics but watching his mechanics on the mound in Arizona and talking with Grant Schiller who is more of an expert on pitching mechanics was a college pitching coach does have more of an idea of what's going on there we were both terrified of what we saw from Kamar rocker I mean he looked just out of sync out of sorts and the results were there but it was more about the fear of injury long term this guy is 65 listed at 240 built like a NFL defense event cuz that's what his dad was and he passed on some of those genetics of being a big beefy boy which is exactly the kind of build you want in in an Ace and that's what Kamar rocker is shaking shaping up to potentially be but he wasn't throwing with his big old beefy legs he was throwing with his shoulder and not really getting down the mound not using the full power that he could I he was still throwing kind of hard I think it was around 92 to maybe 96 so velocity was dipping off a little bit and it was really worrisome and I didn't see him pitch all that much last year but in the times that I've seen him pitch this year the delivery looks absolutely phenomenal it looks like Kamar rocker did when he was a top 10 pick out of Vanderbilt by the Mets the year before the Rangers ended up drafting him I mean he looked like that kind of Ace I mean it was repeatable it was clean he looked confident he looked like he knew what he was doing he looked like he had a plan of attack and he absolutely executed every single time out there he finishes his time in Frisco with five starts just one out shy of 19 Innings 29 strikeouts to just three walks one earned run just one in nearly 20 Innings and five starts I mean barely anybody could reach base against this guy this is exactly what you dream of when you're thinking of O if we could have a a homegrown pitcher that's actually very very good not just settling for hoping for a middle of the rot starter which would be an upgrade on the Rangers developmental processes in terms of pitching over the last decade plus but you know everybody else I mean the white socks crank out so many random Aces for a team that's so terrible like maybe maybe the Rangers could just have one just just one homegrown potential future Allstar starting pitcher just one and rocker is that he's a guy whose fast ball sits 98 to 99 touched 100 five times by my estimation by my looking at the radar gun in his last start the breaking ball is absolutely disgusting uh the change up is still a work in progress but you know got some ugly swings was a couple of times it just didn't come out right out of his hand looked like and just you know bounced in the dirt was not a competitive pitch but it's got some promise there and apparently he's also got a cutter that he has not thrown it all in duway but the Rangers think that it's game ready and since he hasn't gone through the rotation a third time yet or through the batting order a third time yet in this season in double A he hasn't really needed it not that he even really needed the change up I mean just for seamer Sinker curveball was enough to just absolutely obliterate hitters in the Texas League and I know the hitters in the Texas League weren't particularly great this year for instance that San Antonio lineup that he faced off against last time not a great lineup really not any top tier prospects that you're looking at and thinking okay let's see how he could do against a future big leager there no not really the case even for most of the Texas League kind of a Down year offensively around the league but still he did what he needed to he dominated those hitters he is not just back he is better to quote the great Shakari Richardson and this is exact what you hope for he is a little bit on the older side now he has missed some time with the injuries but the questions that were there and the prospect fatigue that set in the overthinking about this guy who has been on people's minds as a potential you know future big leager since 2018 people just overanalyzed things and there were injury concerns and there were delivery concerns but those are gone now I mean the delivery concerns there's always injury concerns because he's a pitcher and that's kind of unfortunately what pitchers do nowadays but this is exactly what the Rangers were hoping for he this is maybe even more than the Rangers were hoping for they had lost a little luster when the Rangers selected him with that third overall pick there was some confusion and the fact that they got him under slot value maybe years looking back is going to look like wow the Rangers really really pulled one off there but I'm excited to see what he looked like in Tria I don't think that he is going to see the big leagues by the end of this year but with what he was throwing in these last couple of starts I mean he looked like he could probably get some big league hitters out right now I don't think the Rangers are going to rush him by any means but in terms of him maybe cracking the big league rotation next year I don't think you can throw that out of the question we'll see what he looks like in triple and if the Rangers are going to add him to the the 40-man roster and get him to be one of their September call-ups they're going to have to make some moves and and cut somebody loose and I think there are some spots on the 40-man roster the Rangers could decide to go in a different direction if they want to see Kamar rocker in the big leagues this year which I don't know for certain that they do but I don't think that it would be any kind of disaster because the stuff that he's throwing right now it is just absolutely pH phenomenal and there is legitimate reason to Hope on a Texas Rangers pitching Prospect maybe potentially being an Ace One Day speaking of those VY boys jack lighter his last couple of starts has been absolutely phenomenal but is he ready for the big leags we're going to talk about that right after this R from our sponsors this show is brought to you by liquid IV when you're taking in America's pastime don't forget to hydrate with liquid IV popsicle firecracker flavor aure fire summer hit get hydrated with electrolytes essential vitamins and clinically tested nutrients from the number one powdered hydration brand in America because baseball and summer go together like liquid IV and indulgent hydration blast off with the iconic summer flavor of popsicle firecracker a festive blend of citrus fueled lemon lime tarte cherry and raspberry flavors as well tear pour live more one stick plus 16 ounces of water hydrates better than water alone powered by livv hydroscience an optimized ratio of electrolytes essential vitamins and 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is heading back up to the big leagues his last two starts in August after a couple of weeks off just for some rest to make sure that they are limiting his workload Jack lighter has looked absolutely Sensational I mean he looks like a completely different guy he looks like the Jack lighter that the Rangers drafted a guy who goes out there throws gas and blows hitters away and just knows I'm Jack lighter and I'm better than you and I'm gonna go out there and I'm going to dominate you and that's what he's done in these two starts in August the fast ball has been up incredibly High I mean the velocity on everything has been way way up in his first start in August after those two weeks off he threw 62 pitches and the fastball which on the year had averaged 95.6 M hour was averaging 98.6 miles an hour up three whole miles an hour the slider up 4 and half miles an hour curveball up 4 and2 M an hour Change Up Up 3 m an hour as well that we only threw two of those in that start wasn't able to go as deep into that game but the strikeouts were just absolutely incredible I mean 21 swings and misses of 34 swings and that was on 62 pitches so more than a third of the pitches that Jack threw in that first start were swings and misses he was just so darn good and I thought okay Jack all right I see you spin rate was up on all those pitches as well not just the velocity I thought okay go out there and do it again please and you know what he did his next start out which is the same night as Kamar rocker I didn't get to watch the full thing just got to watch that final inning of work for him but he looked just about as good and went even deeper into the game thre more pitches in that game wasn't quite getting the crazy crazy amount of swings and misses in that next one but the velocity was still way way up up over where it's been in the past averaged 97.8 mph up two and 2.2 mph over the season average the slider was up nearly 2 miles an hour as well the curveball also up 2 miles an hour as well but he threw 75 pitches in that one and just looked absolutely dominant in these two starts in August he's got nine in the third Innings 20 strikeouts to just two walks let me say that again 20 strikeouts two walks in nine and a third Innings that's insane that's absolutely insane levels of swing and miss and the Rangers said okay all right jack been waiting on you to force your way into this big league rotation you have two starts like that and you kind of force your way in there that's what he's doing though the Rangers were hoping that that spot would be filled by Max Scherzer coming back I'll talk more about him and his rehab and why he's not making his Rehab start tonight in Frisco on Friday but Jack ligher looked absolutely fantastic he looked free he looked easy he looked like he was unburdened by the frustrations and the mind numbing monotony of making the same mistakes over the last few seasons since he got drafted the pressure that was put on him to be Jack lighter to be amazing to be the best in a difficult challenge in his first year in the minor leagues of just starting in doublea not only just starting in doublea but starting in Frisco which I love Frisco I love that it's right here I love that fans of the Texas Rangers who live in the area get to go out and watch future Rangers out there in Frisco that's all great but there's also something to starting not in frisk go not starting with all those eyes on you and everybody out there for the whole first season of Jack lighter's first bro career they were out there in force media was out there in force which it normally isn't this week has been a little different with Kamar rocker looking amazing with Jacob De Grom being out there last night and the Rangers having an off day there was a lot a lot of media uh out there and there was going to be a lot of media tonight if Max Scherzer made his Rehab start but alas we will get into that later on in this show but Jack lighter he's good at dealing with the pressure but that's that's a lot of pressure to put on a kid especially when you're not having Su success especially when you're not you know making those adjustments not for lack of trying he's a smart kid he listens to what the Rangers say but I think there was also probably a little bit too much of Parental influence there and his dad was at nearly every one of his starts it felt like and if he wasn't at every one of his starts he was watching every one of his starts and weighing in with a lot of thoughts and you know having a former Allstar father is very helpful at times of listening to his wisdom listening to his experience but eventually that can get to be a little overbearing and I think I don't want to speculate because I'm not hanging out with Jack and talking to his dad every single day and talking to him but I feel like there might have been a bit too much influence there and we haven't seen as much of alider every single start I think that he might have backed off just a little bit and let the Rangers developmental team do what they do best and develop him and let him work and let Jack be Jack not just Al son I don't know if that's the case I don't know what has led to this breakout but I am not questioning it I am loving it I am still skeptical about how well this maintains in the big leagues I'd still like him to throw a few more more curve balls work on that pitch mix of not being so much reliant on just the fast ball and the slider as great as they are and as dominant as they look now Big League hitters are really freaking good and a lot better than triaa hitters who were also pretty good and a lot of them are former Big League hitters but it seems like Jack is ready and it seems like a lot of the learning the Jack will have to do will be at the big league level it doesn't seem like there's all that much for him left to learn in Triple A and this test in the big leagues I think he's finally ready for it now those first couple starts in the big leagues this year he wasn't ready for it the Rangers pushed him because they needed to push him because of injuries and setbacks and all kinds of other things in the big league rotation and next year the Rangers are going to need him flat out they're going to need Jack ligher in their big league rotation next year providing some kind of value and figuring some things out and there's going to be a lot learned about Jack wider and his future and what his ceiling actually is in the big leagues when he was drafted that ceiling was number two starter after the last couple years the ceiling kind of looked like really good reliever and now I'm not so sure I think it might be back to number two starter if the ceiling is number three starter and that ends up being what he is and a pretty solid number three starter heck that's great that's a developmental win if he ends up just being a nasty sick nasty absolutely dominant back-end reliever then you still got some value there that's something the Rangers haven't developed in a little while and having a cheap controllable Elite reliever in the back end of your pen if it ends up being the case that both him and tooto are Elite relief options it's not ideal you'd rather them be starting pitchers but if that's the case then that's a really nasty back end of your pen for five six years if they can continue to be that for the five six years that the Rangers well the six years the Rangers will have them under team control but Jack ligher has proved that he is ready for that big league challenge he has looked absolutely fantastic and I'm hoping that this kind of velocity this kind of you know movement this kind of confidence and free and easiness it can stay there in the big leagues because that I think even more than the velocity and the stuff is going to decide how well jack ladder fares when he gets back at the big leagues hopefully I'm thinking sometime next week com talk about Jacob deg Grom and a couple other Rangers pitching prospects one who got promoted and one who might be even better than Jack ligher right after this R from our sponsors this show is brought to you by tonal when life life gets busy fitting a workout in can be stressful but with tonal you get efficient workouts personalized just for you and they're available with the amount of time that you have tonal is the world's smartest and most efficient strength training system that helps get you stronger powered by AI tonal learns with every rep so it can deliver workouts personalized just for you it's like having a personal trainer at home with you as Tona will optimize every workout just for you unlike tra traditional equipment tonel uses adaptive digital weight to advance your training techniques from professional athletes to the mom of three tonel is trusted by thousands who have become their strongest so right now Tonto is offering our listeners $200 off your T tonal purchase with promo code locked on MLB that's tonal.com and use promo code locked on MLB for $200 off your purchase that's tonal.com promo code locked on will be for $200 off now the Rangers had some other Prospect promotion news this week heading up from high a hickory is going to be Cole Drake the left-handed starting pitcher who has been dominant with the Hickory croads I don't know exactly when he's going to make his first start for dable a I'm assuming it's probably going to be maybe on Sunday or maybe it'll be next week when the Rough Riders are on the Ro congratulations to Cole Drake he's been absolutely dominant so far this season and I'm excited to finally watch him in fris another guy who I'm excited to see in fris don't know exactly when that'll be but I'm hoping it's maybe by the end of this season with the way that he's been pitching that is Alejandro Rosario before Kamar rocker came back and looked as dominant as we have ever seen him which by the way I might if I we'll we'll see what happens in the spring or in January when I update my top 30 Prospect rankings but don't be surprised if Kamar rocker is up there at the top of the list and another guy who jumped way up there this year is of course Alejandro Rosario had another dominant start for Hickory last night he's got a 252 erra in seven games for Hickory he's got 35 in two-thirds Innings 54 strikeouts I mean he's walking under two hitters per nine striking out more than 133 and a half per nine the guy has absolutely dominated that league and I am very ready to see him in daa Frisco but as good as Kamar rocker was this week I gotta say the the best guy that I've seen Pitch in fris probably ever yeah I think probably ever maybe it was PQ darish when he was rehabbing but it was the one the only Jacob freaking deg Grom in Frisco last night looking pretty much like Jacob De Gro it's not often you see a 34y old in double um it's definitely not often you see a guy with multiple sa Youngs in da but uh yeah he looked like himself I mean the fastball velocity was there said the command wasn't quite there but the slider dear God those poor du hitters of the San Antonio Missions it's a Jacob the Grom slider which makes big ligers established big ligers and even very good big leers occasionally looked just absolutely foolish and those poor kids had absolutely no chance to hit that slider but a couple of them did hit the fast ball including the first two of the game ining the second hitter who got an RBI double excuse me I think it was an RBI single after getting after deg Grom got ahead o02 with a couple of Sliders he tried to go up above the Zone with a fast ball that ended up getting hit and he talked about it after the game that well I probably could have buried him with the slider but I wanted to use that fast ball cuz it's about simulating actual games of what it's going to be like to face big ligers said it's the same reason why he threw some change UPS last night which looked mostly very good had one that he just absolutely yanked he said somewhere in the two to four range couldn't remember exactly how many change UPS he threw but one he didn't throw which I was a little curious about and he hadn't talked about throwing it in his bullpens before was the curveball now the Curve ball is definitely his fourth pitch he's got three pitches two pitches that are probably 80 grade in the slider the fast ball change up also probably a double plus pitch and the the curveball Heck if he was anybody else and didn't have you know three double plus pitches then the curveball would maybe be talked about a little bit more because it's at least a plus if not a double plus pitch that he doesn't really use that much cuz he doesn't freaking need to so I asked him about it I said reth thrown curve balls there's nothing in that you know V band of 80 to 84 which is about where the curve ball is and you said no I haven't been throwing that I haven't been working on that because you know it's not one of my best three pitches so I figure since I'm trying to just get up to the big leagues this year make sure the rehab is done and start the off season like normal working on honing in a fourth pitch is just going to make that take a little bit longer so he's not really working on it for this year which I that was interesting and I thought it's a good answer makes some sense of course he had some frustration about you know getting hit giving up runs ever in any outing I whether it's spring trading whether it's even in a bullpen session he is that ultimate competitor that mindset that you like to have in an ace in a guy who is going to be the top of your rotation next year that is what you like to have I mean he's not letting it you know get the best of him of just just trying to get outs and get Dom he knows what he needs to do in a rehab start he knows what he needs to work on so he can be ready to dominate Big League hitters once he gets back um but he talked about feeling very good after the game he said this I'll know a little bit more about how I'm feeling what the next steps are tomorrow so at this point I'm anticipating he making his next Rehab start unfortunately not in Frisco because the Rough Riders will be on the road it's going to be probably either Thursday or maybe it'll be on Wednesday next week I don't think it'll be as early as Tuesday but it will almost certainly be in Round Rock with the express as they take on Oklahoma City because they will be at home and sending him on the road for a doublea game is doesn't really make the most sense for your Ace he'll throw another Bullpen he's probably going to add an inning and 15 pitches of work he threw two innings last night 29 pitches did allow the one run three strikeouts just absolute dominance from him in that game looking pretty much like Jacob De Grom and just seeing him on the hill seeing him happy seeing him you know smiling and looking like himself it was just a good sight to see for a guy who has been incredibly frustrated that he couldn't compete in the world series that he couldn't help his team get over that finish line they ended up winning for him and winning without him but I know he wants to get back on that hill and I'm sure he's disappointed that he won't get a chance to pitch in you know games that really matter down the stretch but just getting back on a big league Hill is important for him as I'm sure it's important for Max Scherzer to hopefully do it some point this year because Max sherzer will not make his start tonight in Frisco Rangers PR went and told all of us in the media Suite right before this game was starting that Max Sher will not make his start on Friday he is still dealing with shoulder fatigue he got that injection and felt really good I think at some point this week maybe it was last week but he's just not quite ready to make that Rehab start just yet they don't know exactly when his Rehab start will be and it is a bummer for those minor Leaguers because what big Leaguers do every time they are on a rehab assignment especially ones who have filled their bank accounts as fruitfully and has had as dominant careers as guys like Jacob degrom Max Sherer those guys will always buy a big old spread for those minor Leaguers last night Jak Grom I couldn't remember exactly what the name of the restaurant was um but he made sure to get a nice spread of steak and lobster for those doublea kids I'm sure Max sherzer would also bust out the big spread for those youngsters not sure exactly what he'd get but a real bummer for those kids missing out on two back-to-back days of eating like absolute Kings but it was just fun to go out there to see Jacob Grom he's probably going to make about four rehab starts is the plan and then eventually work up to five innings and 75 pitches the Rough Riders will be at home the week after next so if you're penciling in your calendar there that might end up being that Tuesday could be when we see Jacob Deo make his third Rehab start if you're just you know wanting to pencil in maybe seeing one of the best pictures of his generation doing it on the cheap doing it in a more intimate and fun environment and doing it against hitters who are going to look absolutely foolish it is a fantastic time and I highly highly recommend it just seeing him back on the hill brought me some Supreme Joy watching Kamar rocker dominate in double brought me some Supreme joy as well and hopefully watching Jack lighter dominate in the big leagues will bring me maybe even more joy than those two put together but that's going to do it for this week's shows thank you'all so much for listening and subscribing and until next time don't forget to enjoy World Series champion Texas Rangers baseball