Texas Rangers pitcher Kumar Rocker will undergo Tommy John surgery

Texas Rangers general manager Chris Young announced Tuesday that right-handed pitching prospect Kumar Rocker will undergo Tommy John surgery later this week.

Rocker suffered a torn ligament in his throwing elbow in a start for the organization's High-A Hickory Crawdads last week.

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Across the six starts that Rocker made for High-A Hickory this season, he posted a 3.86 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 42 strikeouts in 28.0 innings. Young said they were impressed with Rocker and that the right-hander was close to getting moved up, presumably to Double-A Frisco.

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Texas selected Rocker with the No. 3 pick in the 2022 MLB Draft out of Vanderbilt. The Rangers also selected Rocker's Vanderbilt teammate, right-handed pitcher Jack Leiter, with the No. 2 pick the year prior.

Rocker, a candidate to be the No. 1 pick in the 2021 draft, fell to the New York Mets at No. 10. The two sides then failed to reach a contract agreement due to conflicting medical reports, resulting in Rocker playing independently for a year and re-entering the draft in 2022, when the Rangers picked him up and signed him to an under-slot deal. The savings were then used to sign high-school pitcher Brock Porter.

The Rangers are 25-16 this season, good for first in the AL West.