Thursday brought a huge playoff matchup in northern Georgia, as North Oconee High School visited Heritage High, giving scouts a direct competition between two potential first-round picks in North Oconee right-hander Kumar Rocker and Heritage righty Cole Wilcox. Rocker had more to gain, potentially, with a good outing, as his stuff has been down a tick since he missed a few starts with a hamstring injury, but Wilcox outpitched him in stuff and results in front of a good crowd of scouts, with at least three directors or vice presidents in the house.
Rocker is an extremely well-built 18-year-old, big enough now that he would fit in a major league clubhouse. That's unsurprising for the son of a former pro football player; his dad, Tracy, played two seasons for the Washington franchise in the NFL and one for Orlando of the defunct World League of American Football.
Rocker has been clocked throwing his fastball up to 96 mph this spring, but he was throwing 90 mph to 93 mph during the playoff outing, which he complemented with a fringy to below-average curveball at 75 mph to 81 mph. Heritage’s leadoff batter drove a 91 mph fastball out of the park, and Rocker never quite got back on track, struggling to command both pitches and showing less athleticism on the mound than expected. He also didn’t miss anywhere near as many bats as he should while facing a rural Georgia high school lineup.
Rocker could still be a first-round pick, of course, for a team that hopes some rest and/or conditioning work gets his velocity back to the mid-90s and provides more power to the curveball. With Heritage sweeping the doubleheader to end North Oconee’s season, however, it wasn’t a great last look for Rocker in competition.
Wilcox, whom I saw two weeks ago, was almost as good as he was in the previous outing. His velocity mostly sat around 92 mph to 93 mph and touched 96; he also was throwing with good fade on a changeup and a hard slider. He was missing bats with all three pitches, particularly when he would get ahead and go out of the zone. I could nitpick the changeup, since I can see him turn the pitch over before release, but it’s not a problem for him yet.
The bigger questions for Wilcox will be with the delivery: There’s length to the arm swing, and he doesn’t always get to the same point out front or consistently stay on top of the ball. Some teams will be completely out on him because of his mechanics; I see enough stuff and success so far that I would roll the dice on him in the teens, even with the risk.
• The day before, I traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to see outfielder Jarred Kelenic, who goes to West Waukesha High School but plays only for a local travel team called the Hitters (clever!). Kelenic took an extended batting practice and then played in a seven-inning intrasquad game, during which he got extra at-bats, as in an extended spring training matchup, so everyone got to see a number of swings from him. The tools are certainly there: Kelenic uncorked a laser from center to nail a runner at the plate; he homered in the game and did so repeatedly in BP; and he ran with above-average speed every time he reached base. He looks somewhat maxed out physically and will turn 19 in July, so he might not have much projection left, although he looks like he’s about 16 if you get close to him.
The main question for Kelenic will be whether scouts believe he can hit better pitching, since he will barely face any this spring. His swing is sound, and he makes hard contact, but evaluations of his hit tool will likely come down to what scouts saw him do last summer and fall, since the competition he is facing now is inferior to what he saw last year. There isn’t really another high school hitter in this draft who is comparable to him. Even the best of the remaining outfielders, guys like Connor Scott and Alek Thomas, lack Kelenic's all-around potential, which could make him the only prep position player to go among the top 10 picks.