With the 2022 MLB draft only weeks away, the amateur baseball world appeared to freeze in time on June 6th, 2022, to soak in Kumar Rocker’s return to the mound thoroughly. Rocker, who is arguably the most renowned amateur baseball prospect the game has ever seen, attracted a host of MLB scouts, executives, and media personalities in his first game appearance in nearly eleven months. Rocker’s 60-pitch debut for the Tri-City Valley Cats of the independent Frontier League exceeded expectations, and it helped put him back in the first round conversation for July’s MLB draft. Rocker’s second start was met with significantly less fanfare and media attention. However, there was still a large contingent of professional scouts and evaluators seated behind home plate eager to see what Rocker had in store for outing number two.
Rocker’s first pitch of the night was a 95 MPH fastball that went high for a ball. That’s right about where Rocker sat for the entire outing. Rocker didn’t get his fastball velocity up to 99 MPH as he did in his first start, but the velocity range from outing number two was nearly identical. Rocker’s first inning of work was shaky as the former Vanderbilt righty walked the lead-off hitter and hit two batters to load the bases. He threw almost all fastballs in the first inning with scattershot control and command. Rocker induced weak contact for all three of his outs while recording a couple of whiffs on his fastball. Rocker did flash his breaking ball a few times in the inning. The first was more of a get-me-over slider in the low 80s that stole a strike, but he immediately followed up with a harder slider that he located well down and away. Rocker ended up hitting that batter to load the bases, but a weak groundout ended his twenty-pitch first inning. Rocker didn’t dip below 94 MPH and was 94-96 MPH for his three innings of work, hitting 97 MPH once.
Rocker seemed more in control during his second inning of work. He started mixing in his secondaries with increased frequency. Rocker utilized two separate breaking balls: a slider in the low-to-mid 80s and a cutter thrown in the 85-87 MPH range. The slider featured more downward movement, and Rocker showed feel for locating the pitch down in the zone or below it to rack up chases. The cutter was harder than the slider, with tight, horizontal movement to his glove side. It was effective when located to either side of the plate, something he did very well during innings two and three.. You can argue that the slider is actually a curve, and the cutter is a slider, but at the end of the day, Rocker has shown two distinct breaking balls in back-to-back outings. Rocker also had better command of his fastball in this frame and effectively climbed the ladder, recording his first of two strikeouts on elevated fastballs at 96 MPH. Rocker threw an 86 MPH changeup in the inning, his only one of the day. He also gave up his only hard-hit ball during this inning, a single up the middle off of a low fastball.
Rocker rounded into form in the third inning. After allowing a bloop single to left field, Rocker struck out the next batter on three pitches. It was an impressive sequence as he pitched backward, going with a slider (called strike), a cutter (whiff), and then an elevated fastball for the empty swing out of the zone. The next hitter was sent down in a similar manner with three pitches, all breaking balls, resulting in a strikeout looking. Rocker needed four pitches to retire the next batter as he struck out the side, looking like a truly dominant force during the process. He recorded back-to-back whiffs on his fastball and finished off the batter with a slider down and out of the zone. Rocker completed his final inning of work with his pitch count sitting at 47 pitches on the day, 13 fewer than his first outing.
Rocker looks the part of a power arm at the next level with imposing size, premium velocity, and two breaking balls capable of missing bats. Two things stood out for me in this outing: how cleanly the ball comes out of the hand on all of Rocker’s pitches and his advanced feel for pitching. Rocker stuck mainly to the fastball in the first inning, saving his secondary pitches for later innings. He gradually worked in those secondary offerings over the subsequent two frames while maintaining the power and velocity on his fastball. This bodes well for his chances to remain a starter as he can turn over the lineup multiple times with different looks and pitch mixes. Rocker did a fantastic job moving around his breaking stuff while altering the shape and velocity on both the slider and cutter. I would have liked to see some more changeups as I’ve only counted three through his two appearances. Rocker’s changeup quality has fluctuated in the past, as his ability to locate the pitch can be challenging. The changeup lacks movement, but Rocker’s best ones are sold well and offer enough velocity separation to be an effective weapon with further shaping at the pro level. Rocker also messed with hitter’s timing by altering his delivery. Rocker would sometimes choose to go with a more significant leg lift, a pause in his delivery, and even a slight hip turn before riding down the mound. The body control and athleticism required for a pitcher with Rocker’s size to do this effectively in games is substantial. His ability to do this at a moment’s notice was impressive, showing that Rocker is more than just a power arm. Rocker knows how to pitch and has many tools in his bag of tricks to keep opposing batters off balance.
After back-to-back solid outings, one can argue that Rocker is the top pitcher in the 2022 class. The stuff he has shown is, at a minimum, worthy of a first-round pick this July. That’s two appearances with a plus fastball, a double-plus slider, a plus cutter, and a usable changeup. Unfortunately, there are a bunch of other factors in play that teams will need to reckon with as they line up their boards. There remain unanswered questions that stem from last year’s draft when the Mets chose not to sign Rocker as the 10th overall pick, citing medical concerns. We’ve been left in the dark for nearly a year on what exactly occurred and whether or not it’s still a relevant issue. Rocker will also be old for this year’s class as he’s already 22 and a half years old. How much does his age matter? Does it matter less when considering how light the 2022 class is on college arms?
The biggest question right now is why Rocker wasn’t allowed to continue pitching after three innings and 47 pitches. A good chunk of the scouts and executives in attendance made their way for the exits immediately after Rocker completed his third inning of work which gives me the impression that, at the very least, certain people or teams are aware of the plan regarding Rocker’s workload. The general consensus heading into this was that Rocker would build up his pitch count as his tenure with Tri-City progressed. Instead, Rocker’s workload decreased by a significant margin, and he has yet to get past the fourth inning through two starts. In total, Rocker has thrown seven innings and 107 pitches. He’s struck out eleven batters, walked one (three HBP), given up five hits (one HR), and has a 2.57 ERA. It was undoubtedly an encouraging sign that Rocker could get back on the mound six days after his first appearance with the same level of stuff. But it’s hard to evaluate Rocker fully without seeing him go deep into a game, especially with the injury concerns that continue to hang over his head. Rocker’s camp has been notoriously tight-lipped throughout this entire process, so we may never find out what the ultimate plan is for Rocker. I’m sure teams want to see him go deeper into games, but there’s no guarantee that will happen at this point. It remains to be seen what the next stage of the ‘Kumar Rocker Saga’ will look like, but we had Rocker landing with the Cardinals at 22nd overall in our most recent mock. All in all, Rocker remains in an excellent position to hear his name called in the first round once again this July.