But why did the Angels skip Kumar Rocker?!? He was available at 9 (he went 10th to the Mets). I would have been good if the Sox took him at 4.
The Score had this to say: On the topic of Rocker, why didn't the Angels take him? Almost every team before the Mets have a plausible excuse for avoiding the hurler (though the Royals' selection of prep lefty Frank Mozzicato is a bit of a head-scratcher), but not the Halos.
Sam Bachman, the pitcher L.A. went with at ninth overall, is also quite good, striking out a whopping 93 hitters over 59 2/3 innings as a junior this past year. T
he problem is, he's been held to 159 innings over the past three seasons total and had a WHIP higher than 1.30 and ERA higher than 3.40 over the last two.
Meanwhile, Rocker has thrown 77 more innings against better competition, never had an ERA over 3.30, and never had a WHIP higher than 1.10. MLB teams don't and shouldn't draft for immediate need, but a pitcher who could help the major-league team in relatively short order was within their grasps, and they let the Mets get him instead.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thescore.com/mlb/news/2180593/amp