Kumar Rocker Made His Much Anticipated MLB Debut And Man Did He Deliver
Alika Jenner. Getty Images.You know the name "Kumar Rocker" for few reasons, one of those reasons was because it's such a bad ass name. How could you not pay attention to a guy with a name like that? He also happened to be one of the most polarizing and hyped up college baseball pitchers in recent memory, he was an absolute BEAST for the Vandy Boys in his 3 years there, the game vs Duke in the Super Regional is one of the best pitching performances you will ever see, he was an absolute madman. 19 Ks and a no-no while Duke was tryign to rattle his cage and all he did was strikeout everyone and scream at them.
His lifetime stats at Vandy were prettttty damn good, 28-10 with a 2.89 ERA, 321 Ks in 236 and 2/3rds innings and only 10 homers during that span as well. The guy was a freak. He ended up getting drafted by the Mets with the 10th pick and after a verbal agreement with New York for an over slot contract, but the Mets eventually decided not to sign Rocker after concerns about his health popped up post draft. Rocker's agent…..Scott Boras said that Rocker was healthy but the Mets did not like what they saw on the MRIs after they drafted him and he was not signed. They made his medicals unavailable pre-draft and a lot of folks thought maybe they were trying to hide something. It was something that could only happen to the Mets but it was a killer to Rocker.
We thought this guy would be able to hop on a mound and dominate instantly, kind of like what we saw from Skenes this year. He didn't go back to Vandy and ended up signing with the Tri-City ValleyCats in the Frontier League. He stayed in shape and was taken with the #3 pick in the 2022 draft. After TJ surgery in 2023 it seemed like it was getting kind of late for Rocker and he was kind of a forgotten man. Until this week when it was announced that the Rangers would be calling him up for his MLB debut on Thursday. After a long, long road to the bigs, he was finally here and man did he deliver.
4 innings pitched, 3 hits, 1 ER, 2 walks and 7 Ks. Pretty good debut for a guy who at some point thought this day may never come. But he got up there and befuddled the Mariners offense for 4 innings. Got his first K on a 97 MPH fastball that danced and then dotted the inside corner and man was his slider disgusting.
13 swings and misses on 21 sliders last night, that is legit laugh out loud funny. He was disgusting. Him making his debut should have been a bigger story, but it's just awesome that he's finally out there and in the bigs. A long, long time coming for one of the most talked about pitching prospects in some time. Mark and Brandon said it on Mostly Sports this year but it's very rare when we get one of these absolute stud pitchers and they come up and dominate right away. A lot of times we're promised these prospects and they take a little to pan out (hello to the guy obsessed with commenting about Jackson Holliday on every one of my blogs) but it really is awesome when one of these big name pitchers comes up and shows he's a horse right away.
What made this debut even better was he gave up a hit on the first pitch he threw, gave up a blooper and then struck out the next 2 and got a fly out to get out of it. Minus a solo HR that was all that Seattle was able to get off him. A super long and complicated journey for Rocker but he finally reached the bigs after all of that. Pretty cool watching his parents react to his debut too, his dad is the Titans defensive line coach and he was allowed to fly to Seattle to watch the game before coming back to get ready for the Jets. Super cool and fulfilling day for Rocker and his family. Excited to watch him hopefully become one of the best in the game for many, many years.