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Multiple insiders predict that Phillies will select Kumar Rocker in MLB Draft

Kumar Rocker continues to be mocked to the Phillies. (Chris Gillespie/Gamecock Central)

With the Major League Baseball Draft set to commence Sunday, multiple outlets have now released their final mock drafts and have the Philadelphia Phillies selecting righty Kumar Rocker.

Both Keith Law of The Athletic and Joe Doyle of Prospects Live believe that the Phillies will use the No. 17 overall pick on Rocker, perhaps the most debated player in the 2022 class.

A year ago, Rocker was taken by the division-rival New York Mets with the No. 10 pick, but didn’t ultimately sign with the team. In fact, they never offered him a contract. Jon Heyman of The New York Post hears that Mets doctors “questioned his shoulder durability.” However, Heyman adds that Rocker “recently had a shoulder scope and should be first rounder again.”

Rocker — who Law says has “No. 2 starter upside” — has pitched for the Tri-City ValleyCats of the Frontier League in what’s essentially turned into a gap year for the 22-year-old. Rocker has a 1-0 record with a 1.35 ERA and 32 strikeouts across five starts, which have spanned 20 innings.

While he was at times overshadowed by his teammate Jack Leiter, Rocker was excellent in his final season at Vanderbilt, posting a 14-4 record with 179 strikeouts and a 0.934 WHIP over 122.0 innings. In total, Rocker posted a 2.89 ERA across three collegiate seasons.

Any team selecting Rocker would have to balance uncertainties about his long-term durability with the tantalizing potential he would have almost immediately. If not as soon as the final weeks of the 2022 season, one would think Rocker would certainly be in play to make his Major League debut relatively early in the 2023 season.

The Phillies have selected high school pitchers in the first round in each of the first two seasons under scouting director Brian Barber. While early returns on Mick Abel and Andrew Painter have been very good, Law predicts

that the Phillies won’t take a prep arm for the third time in as many years with their top pick, with Doyle adding that he “continues to hear the Phillies connected to college pitchers.”