Kumar Rocker

[ShotgunDawg]

This is a great video of all 19 of his strikeouts. All ended with a slider. No fastball strikeouts or changeup strikeouts. Duke hitters have to be better than this.

What's even more interesting IMO is that only one of his strikeouts ended with a pitch in the strike zone. While he is obviously an extremely talented kid, collecting tons of strike outs on balls doesn't exactly translate to the Major Leagues all that well.

Watch the video. 18 strikeouts ended with a ball out of the zone. Zone control for hitters is a hell of a thing

https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1137706554415865857

[smootness]

That was one of the best pitching performances ever, period. He was unbelievable.

I do have two thoughts, though:

1) Not sure it was wise to have a true freshman throw 131 pitches in the SR. We'll see if it affects him in Omaha if they make it.
2) It is so stupid that Vandy is allowed to do whatever they're doing. Rocker was the potential #1 overall pick and they get HIM to school, too? The amount of guys they have turn down serious pro money is a massive red flag that goes beyond just being able to give full scholarships (which is in itself bull).

[ShotgunDawg]

That was one of the best pitching performances ever, period. He was unbelievable.

I do have two thoughts, though:

1) Not sure it was wise to have a true freshman throw 131 pitches in the SR. We'll see if it affects him in Omaha if they make it.
2) It is so stupid that Vandy is allowed to do whatever they're doing. Rocker was the potential #1 overall pick and they get HIM to school, too? The amount of guys they have turn down serious pro money is a massive red flag that goes beyond just being able to give full scholarships (which is in itself bull).

Look who these kids are that are getting to school though:

Rocker - Dad played in the NFL & has been an SEC DL coach for 15 years. He's worth millions

Jack Leiter - Will be there next year & dominate. Dad is Al Leiter who is worth 34 million

Walker Buehler - Dad is a wealthy attorney in Lexington, KY. Worth a lot of money.

Point is, many of these players that Vandy is getting to campus come from substantial money & value education. No other school can really offer that.

I'll say this though, with Duke's location & academics, if they had Vandy's scholarship situation, they would overtake Vandy as the preferred school of this demographic

[MarketingBully]

Look who these kids are that are getting to school though:

Rocker - Dad played in the NFL & has been an SEC DL coach for 15 years. He's worth millions

Jack Leiter - Will be there next year & dominate. Dad is Al Leiter who is worth 34 million

Walker Buehler - Dad is a wealthy attorney in Lexington, KY. Worth a lot of money.

Point is, many of these players that Vandy is getting to campus come from substantial money & value education. No other school can really offer that.

I'll say this though, with Duke's location & academics, if they had Vandy's scholarship situation, they would overtake Vandy as the preferred school of this demographic

Isn’t Stanford the same way?

[ShotgunDawg]

Isn’t Stanford the same way?

I'm not sure what Stanford's scholarship situation is. I don't think they operate under that same situation as Vandy.

[shoeless joe]

It was a poor decision to allow him to throw that many pitches. I’m not a big pitch count proponent but it does have its place when the numbers get that high. I’m sure the kid was refusing to come out but I still don’t like the decision.

[ShotgunDawg]

It was a poor decision to allow him to throw that many pitches. I’m not a big pitch count proponent but it does have its place when the numbers get that high. I’m sure the kid was refusing to come out but I still don’t like the decision.

The good news for MSU is that he'll likely feel it in his next outing should they get to Omaha. My guess is that he won't be as effective

[MarketingBully]

Once Corbin leaves Vandy will cease to exist as a baseball power. He’s the reason they are coming there. It’s a hard place to win at. For all of what you say are so called advantages they only have 3 CWS appearances and two of those were with that team with Dansby Swanson on it. It’s not sustainable after Corbin is gone.

[MarketingBully]

I'm not sure what Stanford's scholarship situation is. I don't think they operate under that same situation as Vandy.

They’re a private school with an even better academic reputation.

[Liverpooldawg]

They’re a private school with an even better academic reputation.

A MUCH better academic reputation. Stanford is on just about every world academic rep top 10 list you care to look at. It's top 5 in many of them.

[MarketingBully]

A MUCH better academic reputation. Stanford is on just about every world academic rep top 10 list you care to look at. It's top 5 in many of them.

I guess my biggest point in all of this is that Tim Corbin is probably one of the best if not the best college baseball coaches out there and when he’s gone I don’t think Vandy’s success will translate to the next in line. He took that program from being a shit hole to being a pretty good national power and once he’s gone I think over time it goes back to a shit hole. Maybe not right away but over time. Ask South Carolina how difficult it is to replace their best coach of all time...

[Dawg2003]

It would probably be really difficult to get kids to come without the scholarships because the tuition is so expensive.

[MarketingBully]

It would probably be really difficult to get kids to come without the scholarships because the tuition is so expensive.

It will be difficult to get kids to come once Corbin is gone period.

[Lord McBuckethead]

That was some shitty batting there.

[ShotgunDawg]

That was some shitty batting there.

Very shitty.

You can't allow a guy to strike you out on 19 sliders, in which all but 18 were out of the zone.

At some point in about the 3rd inning, you've got to tell your hitters to sit slider & make him beat you with his fastball. Just an awful approach last night by Duke.

Rocker is extremely talented, but while he throws 93-96, the life on his fastball is well below average & doesn't get swing & miss. If we run into Rocker at some point, you've got to make him beat you with his fastball. Inexcusable.

[shoeless joe]

Very shitty.

You can't allow a guy to strike you out on 19 sliders, in which all but 18 were out of the zone.

At some point in about the 3rd inning, you've got to tell your hitters to sit slider & make him beat you with his fastball. Just an awful approach last night by Duke.

Rocker is extremely talented, but while he throws 93-96, the life on his fastball is well below average & doesn't get swing & miss. If we run into Rocker at some point, you've got to make him beat you with his fastball. Inexcusable.

You’re not wrong but that’s much easier said than done. Obviously they were having trouble picking up the spin on the slider. Otherwise they obviously woulda laid off.

Very similar to when we face fellows in sec tourney.

[smootness]

It will be difficult to get kids to come once Corbin is gone period.

What do you think happens to Vandy once Corbin leaves?

[MarketingBully]

What do you think happens to Vandy once Corbin leaves?

Face the same fate as South Carolina.

[MarketingBully]

What do you think happens to Vandy once Corbin leaves?

Think about it. They don’t have a good fanbase to support the sport. They don’t have much if any tradition that isn’t all tied to Corbin. Their facilities for being such a great program aren’t that great. They aren’t like an LSU, Arkansas, or MSU who have the fan support or even like Florida with their natural benefits built in. Vandy had all of those so called advantages before Corbin got there and it was a shit hole program. I’m just saying when a Tanner or a Corbin leave a program unless it is a blue blood those programs will suffer greatly.

[viverlibre]

Look who these kids are that are getting to school though:

Rocker - Dad played in the NFL & has been an SEC DL coach for 15 years. He's worth millions

Jack Leiter - Will be there next year & dominate. Dad is Al Leiter who is worth 34 million

Walker Buehler - Dad is a wealthy attorney in Lexington, KY. Worth a lot of money.

Point is, many of these players that Vandy is getting to campus come from substantial money & value education. No other school can really offer that.

I'll say this though, with Duke's location & academics, if they had Vandy's scholarship situation, they would overtake Vandy as the preferred school of this demographic

Seems like their scholly advantage didn't have any impact on these players.

New flash, since Polk 1, MSU has provided additional leadership/academic scholarships to baseball players that a regular, non athlete student would not get.

[AlSwearengen]

We pulled Small when he was on his way to a no hitter b/c his pitch count got high. We need to use the fact that we protect arms better than Vanderbilt and everyone else when recruiting.

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

I'm not sure what Stanford's scholarship situation is. I don't think they operate under that same situation as Vandy.

https://news.stanford.edu/2017/02/15/trustees-approve-2017-18-tuition-reaffirm-stanfords-financial-aid-commitment/

"Under the financial aid program, which Stanford expanded in 2015, the university will continue to provide free tuition for typical parents with incomes below $125,000. Typical parents with incomes below $65,000 are not expected to pay tuition, mandatory fees, room or board."

So 90% of players get a full academic ride, and the poor players (who are the most tempted by the draft) get 100% of everything paid for.

How are they not winning the Natty every year?

[Bdawg]

https://news.stanford.edu/2017/02/15/trustees-approve-2017-18-tuition-reaffirm-stanfords-financial-aid-commitment/

"Under the financial aid program, which Stanford expanded in 2015, the university will continue to provide free tuition for typical parents with incomes below $125,000. Typical parents with incomes below $65,000 are not expected to pay tuition, mandatory fees, room or board."

So 90% of players get a full academic ride, and the poor players (who are the most tempted by the draft) get 100% of everything paid for.

How are they not winning the Natty every year?

How do they get away with that under NCAA rules? They private too?

[Todd4State]

Look who these kids are that are getting to school though:

Rocker - Dad played in the NFL & has been an SEC DL coach for 15 years. He's worth millions

Jack Leiter - Will be there next year & dominate. Dad is Al Leiter who is worth 34 million

Walker Buehler - Dad is a wealthy attorney in Lexington, KY. Worth a lot of money.

Point is, many of these players that Vandy is getting to campus come from substantial money & value education. No other school can really offer that.

I'll say this though, with Duke's location & academics, if they had Vandy's scholarship situation, they would overtake Vandy as the preferred school of this demographic

To add to your point:

Ethan Small- father is a MD.

Jake Mangum- father is a former NFL player.

Alex Lange- former LSU pitcher who stayed four years and his father was a MD.

Kramer Robertson- believe it or not his mother is Kim Mulkey who coaches at Baylor.

The best way to get elite baseball players to school is find ones that have a high acumen for talent AND come from at worst well off to wealthy families.

I believe JT Ginn falls in this category too.

[Todd4State]

How do they get away with that under NCAA rules? They private too?

My theory is the NCAA knows the scholarship situation is BS in baseball so they allow stuff like this to "balance" it out and it has has unintended consequences. This would be a non issue if baseball had 20-25 scholarships like it should.

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

How do they get away with that under NCAA rules? They private too?

Stanford is private, and I think the NCAA allows financial aid that's available to all students. It's special benefits to student athletes that they object too; you can send a $1,000 refund check to every student, but if you just sent it to the athletes that's not ok.

Same deal for Vandy's scholarships thing- all students are eligible for to receive universities' need based scholarship (which goes all the way up to a full ride). My guess is they play games internally and the athletes who do qualify for it happen to get approved for the highest possible awards. Just like with admissions, where a FB commit who meets the bare minimum admissions requirements gets in 100% of the time yet 100% of non-athlete applicants would get denied with the same scores. My bet is when a student's parents make 90k he'll get something like a half ride, but if he's a Baseball player a call gets made and he's approved for more

[Bdawg]

My theory is the NCAA knows the scholarship situation is BS in baseball so they allow stuff like this to "balance" it out and it has has unintended consequences. This would be a non issue if baseball had 20-25 scholarships like it should.

No doubt we need more schollies but I can't believe the ncaa lets this continue

[RocketDawg]

https://news.stanford.edu/2017/02/15/trustees-approve-2017-18-tuition-reaffirm-stanfords-financial-aid-commitment/

"Under the financial aid program, which Stanford expanded in 2015, the university will continue to provide free tuition for typical parents with incomes below $125,000. Typical parents with incomes below $65,000 are not expected to pay tuition, mandatory fees, room or board."

So 90% of players get a full academic ride, and the poor players (who are the most tempted by the draft) get 100% of everything paid for.

How are they not winning the Natty every year?

Good deal. Of course, the student has to be a Stanford quality student. I wonder what they do if the parents make $126K? Surely it's a sliding scale and not an abrupt cutoff.

[RocketDawg]

How do they get away with that under NCAA rules? They private too?

Yes, they're private. Stanford is one of the very top schools in the country, beyond Vanderbilt.

[Todd4State]

Yes, they're private. Stanford is one of the very top schools in the country, beyond Vanderbilt.

Believe it or not Stanford was basically Vanderbilt before Vanderbilt in college baseball. They used to attract big pitching prospects and used the scholarships the same way. The difference is Stanford didn't have the pro caliber pitching coaches like Vandy has now. Corbin definitely got his inspiration from Stanford though.

[BuckyIsAB****]

I hate to tell yall this but to make it that far in baseball you probably come from a rich family. It is what it is.