36 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • JULY 15, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
buzz
Lofty expectations await Mets’ top draft pick
BY JOE PANTORNO
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Th e Mets’ pitching factory added
another attractive cog to its wheel on
Sunday night when highly regarded
Vanderbilt prospect Kumar Rocker fell
into their laps with the 10th pick of the
2021 MLB Draft .
Th e 21-year-old righty was ranked the
fi ft h-best prospect by Baseball America
and sixth-best by MLB Pipeline. He was
regarded as the No. 2 pitcher in the entire
2021 draft class behind only Jack Leiter
— his Vanderbilt teammate who went
second overall to the Texas Rangers.
Quite a catch at 10th overall.
“We’re still so elated here … that Kumar
got to us. We really thought there was
very little chance that this would happen
— a pitcher of this talent and his portfolio,”
Flushing Town Hall presents fi rst in-person concerts since COVID-19
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@schnepsmedia.com
@jenna_bagcal
Over the next few months, Flushing
Town Hall is bringing back its muchanticipated
live performances for audiences
to enjoy.
Th e festivities begin on July 30 with
“Proud Mary — Rock & Roll Ladies” featuring
powerhouse vocalist Emilie Surtees
and her band and continue on Aug. 20
with “Beautiful Vibration — Colors of
African Music” showcasing the talents
of award-winning vocal virtuoso Gino
Sitson.
Beginning in 2020, Flushing Town Hall
continuously delivered online arts and
culture programs to audiences when New
York City still had COVID-19 restrictions
in place. In January 2021, the organization
had presented 132 hours of
online programming in the form of concerts,
dance performances and cultural
celebrations.
“We are excited to open our doors
again,” Executive and Artistic Director
Ellen Kodadek said. “New Yorkers are
hungry for the return of live music and
events, and we are delighted to bring outstanding
artists to our venue who will
deliver tons of great energy. We have
planned our reopening carefully to maintain
COVID safety measures for all who
pass through our doors.”
New York City-based group Th e Emilie
Surtees Experience Band will delight
audiences as FTH’s fi rst in-person concert
since COVID-19 in “Proud Mary — Rock
and Roll Ladies.” Th e tribute concert will
feature songs from female vocalists from
’60s and ’70s soul, R&B, pop and contemporary
genres, including hits like “What’s
Love Got to Do with It” by Tina Turner or
Heart’s “If Looks Could Kill.”
Th e following month, FTH will welcome
Cameroonian musician Gino Sitson
to perform “Beautiful Vibration — Colors
of African Music,” an “energetic combination
of new sounds” featuring percussion,
vocals and lyrical melodies.
Accompanying Stitson’s vocals, body percussion
and compositions will be acoustic
guitarist and vocalist Marvin Sewell and
Lonnie Plaxico on the double bass.
FTH is off ering viewers both virtual
and in-person tickets for both concerts.
To ensure general safety and in honor
of FTH’s 42nd anniversary, only 42 inperson
tickets will be available for purchase.
Both programs will be streamed
live online and virtual ticket holders will
receive the link and a reminder before
the show.
Virtual tickets are $7 and $5 for members
and 42 in-person tickets are $12 and
$10 for members.
To learn more and to purchase tickets,
visit fl ushingtownhall.org.
said Tommy Tanous, Mets vice president
of amateur and international scouting.
“Th is doesn’t happen very oft en. We
feel very fortunate that his name and
magnet was still on the board. Kumar
was more of a dream than anything else.”
During his 2021 season at Vanderbilt,
Kumar went 14-4 with a 2.73 ERA, 179
strikeouts, and 39 walks in 20 starts.
Those 14
wins were
tops in
N C A A
Division I
while his punchouts
were tied for fi rst with
Leiter. In his three years at
the collegiate powerhouse,
he went 28-10 with a 2.89
ERA and 321 strikeouts.
“New York is another animal,
but that’s what I feel like
I was made for,” Rocker said.
“Th ey’re getting a guy with a
track record of winning.”
Mets director of amateur
scouting, Marc Tramuta,
suggested that Rocker is
ready for the spotlight in
Queens aft er pitching at
the “New York City
of college baseball,”
at Vanderbilt.
“Th is is a supremely talented player,
but even more, it’s elite makeup,”
Tramuta continued. “He’s been under
that microscope for so long and always
stepped up.”
But there were some concerns surrounding
Rocker
leading up to the
draft . A member of
an MLB organization
that was picking
even lower in the fi rst
round of the draft said
that they “probably would have
passed” on him because of his
agent — the high-profi led Scott
Boras — and concerns about his
consistency involving his secondary
pitches and delivery.
Th at included a strike
rate of under 50 percent
with his fastball and a
majority of his misses
with his slider coming
from chases.
“It’s hard to pass
on pedigree and
makeup,” they
added.
Th at drop isn’t
being used as
extra motivation
for
R o c k e r,
though.
“From now on, it’s what you do aft er
this,” he said.
For a Mets team that is desperate for
viable starting pitching depth aft er injuries
have ransacked their rotation, Kumar
could be a godsend for the club — which
bungled a bullpen game on Sunday
against the Pittsburgh Pirates in which
they blew a 5-0 lead to lose.
Th e Mets currently have four healthy
starters in Jacob deGrom, Taijuan Walker,
Marcus Stroman and Tylor Megill, while
Carlos Carrasco and Noah Syndergaard
rehab from injuries. Carrasco is inching
ever so closer to his Mets debut
while Syndergaard is slated to return in
September.
Meanwhile, their depth pieces in David
Peterson, Jordan Yamamoto, and Joey
Lucchesi are on the shelf with injuries,
too. While most draft prospects don’t sniff
the majors the year they were draft ed,
Rocker could be the exception.
“Mets fans, you might see him this year,”
ESPN analyst Eduardo Perez said aft er
Rocker was taken.
“I can defi nitely see him dominating in
the big leagues and doing his thing very
soon,” Leiter added to ESPN.
Photos courtesy of Maria Passannante-Derr (l.) and Flushing Town Hall (r.)
Emilie Surtees and Gino Sitson
Photo credit:
Steven Branscombe/
USA TODAY Sports
Kumar Rocker
pitches in the
fourth inning
against the
Mississippi at TD
Ameritrade Park on
June 30, 2021.
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