#80 Jr. RHP Kumar “White Castle/K-Rock/RagnaRöcker” Rocker
2021 Stats: 14-4, 2.73 ERA, 13.20 K/9, 2.88 BB/9
Rocker chosen #10 by the NY Mets. Apu is pleased.https://t.co/1acD10zQ44
— Guess who’s back, Scotty’s back (@anchorofgold) July 12, 2021
As I wrote in 2021 MLB Draft 1st Round Primer: Current Players:
Kumar Rocker would likely have heard his name in the 2018 First Round had he not told teams his commitment to Vanderbilt was firm. We know he passed up a multi-million dollar signing bonus, and later on, learned that his mom, Lalitha was one of the main drivers behind this decision. When we build the statue of Kumar, Lalitha should be standing right next to him (and his father, Tracy, should be sitting behind them stoically/unemotionally eating snacks, as is his wont).
*Note: I love this family so much.
Do I really need to sell you on Mr. June getting picked in the first round? He threw a 19K no hitter as a Freshman in the Super Regionals against Duke. He was immediately the best pitcher on the team once he stepped foot on campus, was the 2019 CWS Most Outstanding Player, and it is only the otherworldly stuff of Jack Leiter this year that has put in doubt who was the best pitcher in college baseball. He’s got a Championship Ring (2019), willed the team to the 2021 CWS Finals, and only a global pandemic which cancelled the sport before conference play kept him from going to Omaha in each season of his Vanderbilt career. Come on. You know Kumar, Jack Leiter, and an MVP bat in Austin Martin gets us to Omaha. I’m not saying we definitely repeat in 2020, but SCREW IT, YES I AM, CON SARN IT!
Simply put, he’s had the greatest career of any athlete to ever come to Vanderbilt, and it would have looked even stronger had the 2020 season existed past March.