Why Kumar Rocker and the Texas Rangers won the MLB Draft
The Texas Rangers stunned the baseball world by taking former Vanderbilt ace Kumar Rocker with the third overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, proving good things come to those who wait. Most draft experts had Rocker going somewhere in the mid-to-late first round, but the Rangers saw the perfect opportunity to pair him with […]
The Texas Rangers stunned the baseball world by taking former Vanderbilt ace Kumar Rocker with the third overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, proving good things come to those who wait.
Most draft experts had Rocker going somewhere in the mid-to-late first round, but the Rangers saw the perfect opportunity to pair him with his teammate at Vanderbilt, Jack Leiter. Leiter took to Twitter to show his excitement.
This is the third time Rocker has heard his name called in the draft. He was selected in the 38th round out of high school, and went to the New York Mets at No. 10 overall in last year’s draft.
Rocker and the Mets could not come to terms on a contract due to the team’s medical concerns with the power-throwing right hander. Passing on Rocker has the possibility to be one of the Mets’ biggest regrets in recent memory, and that’s saying something.
The Mets debacle forced Rocker to wait an entire season before he would be draft eligible again. Over the last year Rocker had a minor scope to repair his right shoulder and decided to play in the Frontier League with the Tri-City ValleyCats .
He quickly put the injury concerns to bed, posting a 1.80 ERA in 20 innings pitched. Rocker struck out 32 batters with just four walks in his five starts in the independent league.
Nobody is questioning his talent. In three seasons at Vandy Rocker had a 28-10 record with a 3.35 ERA. A high velocity fastball, diabolical cutter, and plus breaking ball had hitters looking silly at the dish.
We are talking about the only guy in college baseball history to throw a 19 strikeout no-hitter in the Super Regionals. He was a Golden Spikes finalist in 2021 along with Leiter, though they were beat out by Arkansas’ Kevin Kopps.
He is one of the most accomplished college baseball players of the 21st century.
It’s likely that Rocker is the first player from this year’s draft class to reach the big leagues. He might even crack the Rangers’ roster later in the season as a reliever, which would be incredibly rare.
Vanderbilt crushed the first round of the MLB Draft once again with Spencer Jones going to the New York Yankees at No. 25 overall and had five signees go in the first round. As if Tim Corbin’s cap needed any more feathers, this marks the fourth straight draft that Vandy has produced a top 5 pick.
After last season nobody would have guessed that Rocker and Leiter could land on the same squad. The Rangers have a bright future ahead as I anticipate to see the duo pitching alongside each other for years to come with a handful of All-Star Games mixed in along the way.
Day two of the draft kicks off on Monday afternoon at 2 ET with rounds 3-10. The draft wraps up on Tuesday with rounds 11-20.
Featured image via Steven Branscombe – USA TODAY Sports
