Rangers' MLB draft watch: Vanderbilt's Kumar Rocker, Jack Leiter dominate in NCAA Regional
This is an excerpt from The Dallas Morning News' Texas Rangers newsletter, The Dirt, by Evan Grant.
By Evan Grant
The following analysis original appears every Monday morning in The Dirt, by Evan Grant, our in-depth Texas Rangers newsletter.
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Now here's Evan Grant's latest draft watch breakdown:
Each Monday, leading up to the July amateur draft, we will try to bring you an update on intriguing possibilities for the Rangers' at the No. 2 overall pick.
RHP Kumar Rocker, Vanderbilt
After a rough outing in the SEC tournament, Rocker dominated Presbyterian for six innings in Vandy's NCAA Regional opener. He allowed a pair of hits and walks each in seven shutout innings of a 10-0 win. It was Rocker's first scoreless outing since April 16 at Tennessee. Rocker was the preseason favorite to be the No. 1 pick, but an inconsistent fastball has dropped him in some mock drafts to five or lower.
RHP Jack Leiter, Vanderbilt
Leiter was electric in a 4-3 win over Georgia Tech in the winner's bracket of the Nashville Regional on Saturday. He struck out 11 and allowed just a run in six innings. Since being skipped once in the rotation for a breather, he's posted a 2.55 ERA for 24.2 innings while striking out 40 and allowing just 20 baserunners (11 hits, nine walks). "That guy is as good as we've seen," Georgia Tech coach Danny Hall said.
SS Marcelo Mayer, Chula Vista, Calif. Eastlake
Mayer begins the CIF Baseball Tournament on Tuesday. Eastlake is the No. 8 seed in the San Diego section and opens at San Marcos. He takes a .410 average with 13 home runs and 40 RBIs in 28 games into the playoffs. The most recent Baseball America mock draft had the Rangers taking Mayer with Pittsburgh taking Dallas Jesuit's Jordan Lawlar No. 1.
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Evan Grant, Rangers beat writer/insider. Evan has covered the Rangers since 1997. He has twice been named one of the top 10 beat writers in the country by the AP Sports Editors. His passions outside of covering baseball are his wife, Gina, his two step kids, two crazy dogs & barbecue. Let's not discuss the cat. Evan graduated from Georgia State University, but oddly is a Georgia fan.
egrant@dallasnews.com @Evan_P_Grant