Ex-Mets' First-Round Draft Pick to Make MLB Debut For AL Club

A former Mets' first-round selection is set to make his much anticipated major league debut with an AL club.

Logan VanDine | Sep 10, 2024

Jun 30, 2021; Omaha, Nebraska, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores pitcher Kumar Rocker (80) pitches in the fourth inning against the Mississippi St. Bulldogs at TD Ameritrade Park. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images / Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

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A former New York Mets' first-round draft pick is set to make his first major league start this week.

Right-handed pitcher Kumar Rocker, who the Mets selected with the 10th overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, will make his much anticipated major league debut for the Texas Rangers on Thursday.

Rocker was a highly touted starting pitcher out of Vanderbilt University and the Mets were hoping he'd develop into a frontline hurler for them. However, that never came to fruition.

After the two sides initially came to a verbal agreement on a $6 million signing bonus, New York opted not to give Rocker a contract offer after concerns over his medicals. The starting pitcher did not participate in a program that would have made his medical information available before the draft, which resulted in the Mets not signing the highly touted pitcher. Rocker underwent shoulder surgery in September of 2021.

After opting not to go back to Vanderbilt, Rocker signed with the Tri-City ValleyCats of the Frontier League in May of 2022. Rocker performed well with the ValleyCats, pitching to an ERA of 1.35 with 32 strikeouts and just four walks across five starts and 20 innings.

After re-entering the draft in 2022, Texas selected Rocker with the third overall pick and signed him to a $5.2 million signing bonus on July 26, 2022. He did not appear in a game that year.

After making just six starts for the Rangers' High-A affiliate last season, the Hickory Crawdads, Rocker underwent Tommy John surgery in May of 2023, which ended his campaign.

Rocker pitched in a total of 11 games this season for the Rangers' minor league affiliates in Single-A, Double-A and Triple-A and went 0-1 with a 1.96 ERA and 0.79 WHIP in 36.2 innings with 55 strikeouts. The former Mets' first-rounder will now join the Rangers' rotation during the last three weeks of the regular season.

Rocker will make his debut against the Seattle Mariners on September 12 at T-Mobile Park with the first pitch scheduled for 9:40 p.m. EST.

Published Sep 10, 2024

LOGAN VANDINE

Logan is a graduate of Rider University where he majored in Sports Media and minored in Sports Studies. During his time at Rider, Logan worked for Rider's radio station, 107.7 The Bronc as a sports host, producer and broadcaster, and for the school's paper: The Rider News. He began his time with The Rider News as a section writer for sports and was a copy editor for two years followed by being one of the sports editors during his senior year. Logan also placed third in the New Jersey Press Foundation Awards for sports feature writing. Aside from his work on Yankees and Mets On SI, he is also a writer for FanSided covering the New York Giants and Mets and also covers the Giants for Total Apex Sports.