Rock on roll: Ohio Draft prospect fires no-no

Two starts into the season, Joe Rock continues to roll.

MLB Pipeline’s No. 56 overall Draft prospect tossed a complete-game, seven-inning no-hitter to pace Ohio University to a 6-0 blanking of Morehead State at Bob Wren Stadium on Friday.

The towering left-hander faced one over the minimum as he fanned six and worked around a pair of walks. Rock (1-1) was aided by a 5-4-3 double play that ended the game and sealed the no-no for the 6-foot-6, 200-pound hurler. He tossed 54 of his 89 pitches for strikes.

This performance comes after Rock yielded a pair of earned runs on four hits and three walks with 12 punchouts over five frames in his season debut.

The product of Hopewell High (Penn.) possesses a 60-grade fastball which flashes up to 96 mph on radar guns. Rock pitches off of that with a 55-grade slider that sits in the low 80s and a curveball with impressive depth. The southpaw is also getting a feel for a changeup that already grades as an average offering and continues to show improvement.

After a freshman season (2018) where Rock struggled with control, walking 37 in 59 innings, the Pennsylvania native is already displaying significant strides in that area with 18 strikeouts to five walks over 12 frames this season after an issue with academic ineligibility and the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the 2020 campaign. The lefty made 16 appearances (11 starts) as a freshman and posted a 4-2 mark with a 5.19 ERA and 41 whiffs.

This is the third no-hitter for Rock in his baseball career. The 20-year-old tossed a pair of no-no’s in high school, one of which sent the Hopewell Vikings to the state playoffs.

After Rock retired the side in order in the opening frame Friday, the offense staked him to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Spencer Harbert and Mason Minzey paced the Bobcats bats with a pair of hits apiece and three RBIs and three runs scored combined.