LOS ANGELES — Kumar Rocker is a first-round pick once again, and improved his standing in the process.
A year after being picked 10th overall by the Mets, only to go unsigned because of the club’s medical concerns with his right arm, Rocker has another ticket to professional baseball after getting selected third overall by the Rangers in Sunday’s MLB draft.
“I was just hoping to get the opportunity to play,” Rocker said on MLB Network, adding that he did not expect to be the third pick.
Once seen as a potential top pick in 2021, Rocker fell to the Mets in last year’s draft in part because of concerns over a dip in velocity midway through his junior season at Vanderbilt. The August deadline came and went without the Mets offering Rocker a contract — his agent, Scott Boras, said at the time that multiple independent baseball orthopedic surgeons deemed Rocker “healthy” — leaving the right-hander to get back to preparing himself for the 2022 draft.
Kumar Rocker was selected No. 3 overall in the 2022 MLB draft. AP“August 1 at 5:01 is when it changed — I got to work after that,” Rocker said on MLB Network. “It was a beautiful process. I’m excited I went through it.”
After training privately for months — and reportedly undergoing minor shoulder surgery in September — Rocker signed with the independent Tri-City ValleyCats in May to give scouts another look. In five starts, he posted a 1.35 ERA, striking out 32 and walking only four in 20 innings.
“I’m happy for Kumar,” said Tommy Tanous, the Mets VP of amateur and international scouting. “He’s a great kid. We were thrilled last year when we got him. Obviously things didn’t work out.”
As long as Rocker signs with the Rangers — he is expected to agree to a $5.2 million deal, under the No. 3 pick’s slot value of $7.59 million but higher than the No. 10 pick ($4.7 million) last year, per The Post’s Jon Heyman— he will reunite with former Vanderbilt teammate Jack Leiter, the New Jersey product who went No. 2 overall to Texas in last year’s draft.
The Rangers can dream about having Leiter and Rocker atop their rotation a few years down the road. Leiter started his pro career at Double-A this season, beginning a potential fast track to the majors. Rocker, now 22, could be in for a similar path.
Rocker’s landing spot in this year’s draft was a big question mark entering Sunday, but he went higher than expected. His future will attract plenty of eyeballs in Queens, where the Mets added the No. 11 pick in this year’s draft because they did not sign him last year.
