What’s Up With Black Pitching Superstar Kumar Rocker?

What’s Up With Black Pitching Superstar Kumar Rocker?

by | Jun 14, 2022 | 6TH SLOT

When the New York Mets drafted Kumar Rocker, with the 10th overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, many envisioned the power pitching Rucker as the next ace of the Mets staff.

But that didn’t come to fruition as team brass decided not to sign to the former Vanderbilt Commodores star after he failed a physical.

To this date, the injury or severity of the injury in question is unknown. But what we do know is Rocker opted not to return to Nashville, but instead work on getting his mind and body right for the 2022 MLB Draft.

 

At the time of the Mets decision, Rucker’s agent and baseball’s super agent Scott Boras had this to say.

 “Kumar Rocker is healthy according to independent medical review by multiple prominent baseball orthopedic surgeons. Kumar requires no medical attention and will continue to pitch in the regular course as he prepares to begin his professional career.”

 Currently the 39th ranked prospect in the upcoming draft, Rocker who hadn’t pitched competitively in over a year recently joined Tri-City ValleyCats, a member of the independent Frontier League.

He’s using this as an opportunity to prepare for the draft which he is eligible to participate in.

 Following his return to the mound, Rocker talked about the work he’s put in to be in position to be drafted again.

 “It was a long year, a lot of work put in. I’m glad to see good results. I had a process. When I got the start date, it was attack, attack, attack — go out there and do my thing.”

 That he did, tossing four innings, throwing 60 pitches, including 43 for strikes. While he did allow a two-run homer, he also struck out six batters and routinely hit high-90s with his fastball, topping out at 99 MPH. It was a welcomed sight for Rocker and all the teams who’ll have the opportunity to grab the former Vandy star. He looked healthy and in-control on the mound.

 

 

 

His former college coach Tim Corbin, talked about his star pupil after his performance.

 “He should’ve been back on the mound a long time ago. All he did for our school was compete. And I’m just glad he’s getting to play and get out there and refresh himself a little bit. He looks great.”

 Rocker Has An Array Of Pitches:

 The 6-foot-5 245 pounder has some nasty stuff in his arsenal, including that aforementioned fastball, plus an effective changeup, curveball and even a devastating slider at times. Team manager Pete Incaviglia, who played 12 MLB seasons and faced a ton of great pitchers, had this to say about Rocker’s performance.

 “He had good command. I think he made one mistake. Everything else was really good. I was thoroughly impressed. For him to go out there and pitch the way he did with the command he had for not pitching for a year, you’ve got to tip your hat.” 

 

 

Rocker Was Dominant In College

Rocker is the son of former NFL player Tracy Rocker so the athletic lineage is there. During his three years at Vandy he became one of the best and most complete pitchers in college.

He tallied a 28-10 record, with a 3.35 ERA and 321 strikeouts over 236 innings. The strong-armed Rocker even tossed a 19 K, no-hitter during the 2019 Super Regionals with the Commodores facing elimination. For his efforts, Rockers was voted a consensus All-American, All-SEC and Most Outstanding Player in the College World Series.

Since the Mets didn’t want this generational talent, some MLB team is gonna get real lucky July 17-19 at this year’s MLB Draft.

Mets Pinch Pennies With Generational Talent Kumar Rocker | Facing Regret Down The Road

Mets Pinch Pennies With Generational Talent Kumar Rocker | Facing Regret Down The Road

by | Aug 2, 2021 | THE THREE SPOT

 

So just what exactly do the New York Mets doctors know about Kumar Rocker’s arm that the medical team at Vanderbilt didn’t know?

Let’s not get this twisted here, if Mets Med was so on point Jacob deGrom’s name wouldn’t be followed by the suffix IL.

Its one thing for the Mets to get buyers remorse after after Rocker’s velocity reportedly dropped at the end of his college season. 

But to allege arm issues on a player who made all his starts after a season off in 2020 is despicable.

Rocker struck out 179 batters in 122 innings with an ERA of 2.73. He also threw a no-hitter!

On draft day his dominance was so clear that he woke up the echoes of Bob Gibson and Doc Gooden on MLB Network.

In an analytics driven game these days, I would think those numbers don’t lie!

 

 

Clearly the Mets are trying to play front office hardball with Scott Boras and Team Rocker.

They know despite velocity issues at the end of the most unique season in the history of college baseball that Rocker is generational talent.

His value may be greater off the field than on it.  If the difference in what they are offering is less than $1.4 million in a signing bonus doesn’t this rise to the level of “C’mon Man”?

That’s not much less than the annual deferred payment Bobby Bonilla gets annually from the organization on that MLB holiday.

Rocker has two years of eligibility left at Vanderbilt which gives him unprecedented leverage.

The NCAA’s Name, Images, and Likeness (NIL) rules which allow student-athletes to be compensated for their personal marketability place him in a position where he could make more in endorsements than what the Mets were reportedly willing to pay in a signing bonus next season.

What happens if he goes back to college rises to the number one pick and becomes the cornerstone of a dynasty in the Bronx?

We’ve seen this act before with Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry.

This is risky business for the Kings of Queens. They’ve made plenty of bad front office multi-million dollar moves over the last two decades and now they want to go cheap…for real! 

Rocker is not the player to be using as a crash test dummy for frugal and shady.  He has options and is probably more than ready for a return to Vanderbilt and inevitable move up in the 2022 draft.

Sandy Alderson is now on the clock.