Mandatory Credit: Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports
A recent mock draft from Prospects Live saw the Mets selecting Vanderbilt righty Kumar Rocker with the 10th overall pick. Here’s what they had to say about it:
“Surely nobody saw Rocker falling this far a year ago, or even three months ago, but command concerns and fastball quality skepticism has pushed him down boards to this point. That said, Rocker fits the Mets mold in spades. A big-time college performer with a big fastball and a wipeout secondary, Rocker certainly fills a need for the Mets who lack close-to-the-big-leagues talent in upper minors rotations.”
Rocker, 21, ends his time at Vanderbilt with one of the more storied college baseball careers in recent memory. He burst onto the scene in 2019 as a freshman with a 19-strikeout no-hitter against Duke, and anchored the Vanderbilt staff as a freshman that went on to win the College World Series.
After COVID impacted 2020, the presumed ace of Vanderbilt came into the 2021 season as the consensus top arm in the draft. After a performance that fell short of expectations along with other arms rising up to the moment, Rocker now sits second or third on most draft boards for college pitchers, behind teammate Jack Leiter, and in close competition with Texas’ Ty Madden.
Sources told me on Thursday that Kumar’s stock took a hit following his shaky performance in Game 3 of the College World Series.
There’s concern with Rocker’s ability to command the off speed pitches, and last night he had little command of anything and struggled to put hitters away aside from the fourth inning. He struggled in the biggest game of his life.
— ramsey (@jwr082OO2) July 1, 2021
There had been speculation the Mets would be Rocker’s floor at 10th overall, but this is the first high-profile mock draft to pair the 6’5″ prospect and New York.
The MLB Draft kicks off on July 11th with the Pittsburgh Pirates selecting first, and will run through July 13th with the completion of the 20th round. MetsMerized will keep you covered with all your 2021 draft news.
