With Opening Day set for Thursday, March 27, the 2025 Major League Baseball season is here. World Baseball Network rounded up some of the most notable roster moves ahead of first pitch.
Houston Astros Add Top Prospect Cam Smith to Opening Day Roster
Third baseman Cam Smith, Houston’s top prospect and No. 58 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list, will be on the Astros’ Opening Day roster. The 22-year-old from Lake Worth, Fla., was promoted after a strong spring showing.
The call up. #BuiltForThis pic.twitter.com/5d1HxEFk0l
— Houston Astros (@astros) March 25, 2025
Smith played 24 games at third base across Low-A Myrtle Beach, High-A South Bend, and Double-A Tennessee, logging 213.2 innings. He recorded 57 total chances with 23 putouts, 31 assists, three errors, one double play, and a .947 fielding percentage.
He was later traded to Houston alongside third baseman Isaac Paredes and right-hander Hayden Wesneski in a deal that sent right fielder Kyle Tucker to the Cubs.
Smith enters the 2025 season competing for time at third base with Paredes, Mauricio Dubon, and Zach Dezenzo under second-year manager Joe Espada.
The Astros will open the 2025 regular season at home against the New York Mets on March 27 at 4:10 p.m. EDT.
Texas Rangers RHP Jack Leiter Makes Opening Day Roster
The Texas Rangers announced on March 25 that right-hander Jack Leiter will be on their Opening Day roster.
Leiter went 3-1 during spring training, making six appearances—including three starts—and posting a 3.48 ERA over 20.2 innings. He allowed 22 hits, eight earned runs, one home run, 10 walks, and struck out 21 with a 1.548 WHIP.
The 24-year-old from Plantation, Fla., is the son of longtime MLB left-hander Al Leiter. He was selected second overall by Texas in the 2021 MLB Draft following his sophomore season at Vanderbilt University and signed on July 28, 2021, for a $7.92 million bonus.
Leiter made his MLB debut on April 18, 2024, on the road against the Detroit Tigers. He threw 3.2 innings, allowing eight hits, seven earned runs, three walks, and three strikeouts on 85 pitches—52 for strikes—before being optioned to Triple-A Round Rock the following day.
Leiter bounced between Triple-A Round Rock and the Rangers throughout the 2024 season.
He went 6-4 in Round Rock, posting a 3.51 ERA over 77 innings in 17 appearances, including 16 starts. He allowed 62 hits, 30 earned runs, 10 home runs, 35 walks, and struck out 110, finishing with a 1.260 WHIP.
Leiter struggled in limited action with the Rangers, going 0-3 in nine appearances and six starts. He pitched 35.2 innings with an 8.83 ERA, giving up 44 hits, 35 earned runs, seven home runs, 17 walks, and 31 strikeouts, with a 1.710 WHIP.
He enters the 2025 season ranked No. 3 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 prospects list for the Rangers organization.
Leiter will open the season in the starting rotation, joining Kumar Rocker, Nathan Eovaldi, Jacob deGrom, Cody Bradford, Patrick Corbin, and Tyler Mahle under third-year manager Bruce Bochy.
Bochy, a four-time World Series champion, enters his 28th season as an MLB manager. He’ll return to the dugout on Opening Day when the Rangers host the Boston Red Sox on March 27 at 4:10 p.m. EDT.
Kumar Rocker Makes Opening Day Roster Following Jon Gray Injury
With Jon Gray placed on the 60-day injured list due to a right forearm fracture sustained in November, the Rangers front office, in collaboration with Bochy, confirmed that Rocker will be on the Opening Day roster.
The 25-year-old right-hander from Watkinsville, Ga., made four starts during spring training, going 0-2 with a 13.00 ERA over nine innings. He allowed 15 hits, 13 earned runs, three home runs, six walks, and struck out 12, finishing with a 2.333 WHIP.
Rocker made history on September 12, 2024, when he debuted at home against the Seattle Mariners, becoming the first player of Indian descent to appear in a Major League game.
Rocker went 0-2 with a 3.86 ERA in three starts with the Rangers last season, tossing 11.2 innings. He gave up 12 hits, five earned runs, one home run, six walks, and struck out 14.
He was teammates with Jack Leiter at Vanderbilt University from 2020–21 before being selected 10th overall by the New York Mets in the 2021 MLB Draft. Rocker and the Mets reportedly agreed to a $6 million signing bonus—$1.4 million over slot value—but the club declined to make a formal offer after reviewing his medical records, which were not submitted to the league’s pre-draft program. The Mets instead received a compensatory pick in the 2022 MLB Draft.
Rocker spent 2022 with the Tri-City ValleyCats of the Frontier League ahead of the draft, making five starts and throwing 20 innings with a 1.35 ERA. He allowed 11 hits, three earned runs, two home runs, four walks, and struck out 32 with a 0.750 WHIP.
Texas selected Rocker third overall in the 2023 MLB Draft and signed him on July 26, 2022, for $5.2 million.
Later that year, he pitched in the Arizona Fall League for the Surprise Saguaros, going 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA across six starts. In 14 innings, he allowed 12 hits, seven earned runs, 12 walks, and recorded 18 strikeouts with a 1.714 WHIP.
Rocker spent the next two seasons in the minors, pitching for High-A Hickory in 2023 and making stops in the Arizona Complex League, Double-A Frisco, and Triple-A Round Rock in 2024. Over those two seasons, he went 2-3 with a 2.78 ERA in 15 starts, throwing 64.2 innings and allowing 45 hits, 20 earned runs, four home runs, 12 walks, and 97 strikeouts with a 0.881 WHIP.
Rocker is ranked No. 44 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects list and is the No. 2 prospect in the Rangers organization heading into the 2025 season.
