There might not be any sillier invention in baseball than the opener. It makes no sense. Last night, the Rangers decided to employ the stunt by having Tyler Anderson open for Kumar Rocker.

The logic is that Rocker had an 11.25 ERA in the first inning of his starts this year, and a 2.45 ERA in the rest of his innings. But if his first inning isn’t the first inning, it’s still the first inning for Rocker.

Of course, Rocker had his best outing ever. Which means, the Rangers will do it again and again and again.

Even more silly is the fact that they let Rocker pitch until two outs in the ninth to finally pull him for a reliever. With a 10-0 lead.

The real test will be if he can do this consistently. If Rocker has to have someone open for him, and that’s the catalyst for turning his season around, then more power to the closer.

But it could be just that it was a fluke. Like Joc Pederson coming off the bench to get four hits. 

A game at Coors Field always has the potential to be weird, and last night’s game against the Rockies was no exception.

But if the closer is what does it for Rocker, then bring it on. Because the Rangers need Rocker to be good. Brilliant is just a happy bi-product.

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