HIGH POINT, N.C. – Former High Point Rocker pitcher LHP Kent Emanuel has been named the starting pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds in the first game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday at 1:40 p.m. at Great American Ball Park.
Emanuel will become the ninth former Rocker to reach Major League Baseball after playing in High Point and the sixth to go from the Rockers to MLB in the same season. He will join INF Tyler Ladendorf (Cubs, 2021), RHP David Roberston (Rays, 2021), RHP Jake Petricka (Angels, 2021), RHP Kyle Barraclough (Red Sox, 2023) and LHP Brandon Leibrandt (Reds, 2024).
Emanuel, 34, who started the season with the High Point Rockers of the Atlantic League, made nine starts for the Rockers, going 4-0 with a 2.30 ERA. Emanuel was the Atlantic League Pitcher of the Month in July when he was 3-0 with a 2.45 ERA in six starts. That month, he pitched 33 innings, allowed just 12 hits and five walks while striking out 42. His contract was acquired by the Cincinnati Reds on August 6.
Emanuel made one start at Louisville on August 9, earning a win against St. Paul, allowing just two hits over six innings with eight strikeouts. He was scheduled to start for the Bats again this weekend but his start was scratched.
In his two seasons with the Rockers, 2025 and 2026, Emanuel was 10-1 in 19 starts with a 2.91 ERA.
Emanual played at the University of North Carolina and was the ACC Pitcher of the Year in 2013 after leading the Tar Heels to the College World Series. He was 11-5 in his final season in Chapel Hill and was a first team All-ACC selection in both 2012 and ’13. The Woodstock, Ga. native was a finalist for both the Golden Spikes and Dick Howser Awards in 2013.
Emanuel’s signing by the Reds marked the 11th transfer of a Rockers player to an MLB affiliate or international league this season and the 60th since the team was founded in 2019.
