Miami Marlins Draft Prospect: Pitcher Kumar Rocker

The son of former Washington Redskins defensive lineman, Tracy Rocker, Kumar Rocker has taken his own path to the baseball diamond. Once rated as the top prep arm in the class, Rocker is now projected to go in the middle of the first round.

RHP Kumar Rocker

Weight: 250

Age: 18

School: North Oconee (Ga.) High School

Commitment: Vanderbilt

Kumar Rocker stands out on a baseball field. His 6’5″/250 build is that of a defensive lineman, it is not necessarily the common build for a pitcher. Yet on the mound, Rocker uses his size and strength to his advantage. The Miami Marlins may be a perfect fit.

Rocker shows the ability to run the fastball up near 98 MPH with a smooth, repeatable delivery.

Rocker has long been on scouting radars with fellow Georgia native and Vanderbilt commit, Ethan Hankins. Both feature electric fastballs and have each made a push for being the top prep pitcher in the class.

This spring, Rocker outperformed Hankins on the mound who was dealing with shoulder tightness that limited him. Unfortunately, both seem to have been passed up with late surges by Carter Stewart and Matthew Liberatore.

Both Baseball America and FanGraphs have Rocker falling to the mid-30s in their latest mock drafts. This slide can be attributed to signability questions due to his Vanderbilt commitment, high bonus demands and failure to perform at the top of his game around high-level decision makers.

Miami Marlins Scouting Report

Fastball: 70

Rocker’s best pitch is his fastball that sits from 92-96. He has topped out at 98 during the Perfect Game All-American Classic.

The fastball has hard arm side run to it and he is able to hit the mid-90s with ease. It is a pitch that he locates well and he works on both corners of the plate. At times, his front side opens early which leads to the fastball flattening out and staying up over the middle of the plate. When that happens, Rocker runs the risk of getting hit pretty hard.

Slider: 60

The slider is a true plus pitch. He throws it in the mid-80s and he gets great tilt on the pitch. He is able to throw the pitch out of the same arm-slot as the fastball and the two pitches play well off of each other.

Rocker’s slider has the ability to be a true swing and miss pitch at the major league level.

Changeup: 50

Rocker’s changeup is his third pitch and the one that needs the most work. Evaluators believe that the pitch will develop into at least an average pitch which will really help Rocker get outs at the next level.

Like other hard-throwing high school pitchers, Rocker did not feature a changeup much at that level due to the fact that it was not needed to get outs. It would only allow high school hitters to be on time.

In pro ball, a mid-90s fastball is not enough for Rocker to blow it by anybody. Thus the development of his changeup could become crucial to his overall success.

Control: 50

Rocker has solid control with his three-pitch mix. At times he gets into a trend of throwing across his body, leading to him missing down and away with fastballs. He has also shown that he opens his front side that leads to flat, poorly located fastballs on occasion.

Yet, his overall command with his fastball is solid. Rocker works the outer black of each side of the plate really well. While his hard slider does have a sharp break, a little more consistency in the strike zone will be a key for Rocker.

Should the Miami Marlins Take Him?

High school arms are always a risky pick and in recent history, the Marlins seem to have been burned by them. While Rocker does offer tremendous upside and he is a better overall pitcher than Tyler Kolek was in 2014, there is still a lot of risks involved.

The biggest risk would be injuries like what happened to the Marlins 2014 first round pick Tyler Kolek, their 2016 first round pick Braxton Garrett and their 2017 first round pick Trevor Rodgers.

Other concerns such as signability and bonus demands will pop up when it is time for the Marlins to make their selection.

It is very likely that Rocker will be on the board by the time that the Miami Marlins pick. If he ends up being their selection, the Marlins will have added a front of the rotation talent with some risk.

Next: Travis Swaggerty: Marlins Draft Prospect

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