The Rangers surprised the baseball community by selecting Kumar Rocker with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2022 MLB draft, and his journey to the major leagues has been full of ups and downs.

Here are 10 key details to know about the Rangers’ 2022 first-round selection and top pitching prospect as he prepares for his debut.

1. The basics

Pos: Pitcher

Age: November 22, 1999

Hometown: Watkinsville, GA

College: Vanderbilt University

2. He’s been drafted three times

This is not the first time Rocker’s been drafted. In fact, it’s not even the second time. He was first selected in the 38th round by the Rockies back in 2018, but opted to enroll at Vanderbilt University instead.

He was once again drafted by the Mets 10th overall in 2021, but the Mets retracted their offer after reviewing his medical history.

3. Injury history

Rocker had minor surgery on his arm after the Mets decided to forego drafting him. After rehabbing, Rocker pitched for the Tri-City Valley Cats of the independent Frontier League in 2022, showing that he had recovered from his surgery.

Rocker underwent a long rehab and didn’t pitch competitively again until July 2024, when he made his first rehab start for the Arizona Complex League Rangers. He threw two innings and gave up a run on two hits with three strikeouts.

The Rangers felt comfortable drafting him after taking a look at his medicals. But finally, after a ton of twists and turns, the Rangers’ bet on Rocker appears to be paying off.

4. Meteoric rise in 2024

Kumar Rocker’s rise to the major leagues was nearly unprecedented.

5. Professional sports runs in the family

Rocker’s dad Tracy is a College Football Hall of Famer from Auburn and was drafted in the third round of the NFL Draft by Washington.

6. He’s not the first Ranger to come out of Vanderbilt

In fact, the last Ranger to come out of Vanderbilt was his former college teammate and current Rangers teammate, Jack Leiter. Leiter and Rocker apparently got along well in college. The two are different in terms of physical attributes, but are similar when considering both have fathers with professional sports backgrounds.

7. He had a legendary performance in the NCAA super regionals

Back in 2019, the Vanderbilt Commodores were on the brink of elimination from the NCAA tournament when Rocker decided he didn’t want to be eliminated.

8. Bruce Bochy saw the vision

The Rangers’ future Hall of Fame manager was very impressed by his first look at Rocker since he underwent Tommy John surgery.

9. Former football star

He struggled to give up football in high school.

10. A unique heritage that is making history

Rocker is the son of a black dad, Tracy, and an Indian mom, Lalitha, better known as Lu to family and friends.

“When I had him, I said ‘You know what? We’re going to give him an Indian first name so they know my half of the culture,” Lu said.

In Hindi, Kumar means prince or young son.

Lu’s parents immigrated to the United States in 1965. Rocker is the first Indian-American to play in the MLB.