Rockers add Guilford County native

May 7—HIGH POINT — Mitch Atkins, one of the premier starting pitchers in the Atlantic League and a veteran of Major League Baseball, has signed with the High Point Rockers for the 2021 season.

Atkins is a two-time Atlantic League All-Star, earning the nod in both 2018 and 2019. He went 12-7 as a starter with York in 2018 and followed that with an 11-6 mark and a 2.81 ERA in 2019. Atkins was second in the league in 2019 in both wins and ERA. In four seasons in the Atlantic League, including stints with Somerset in 2013 and 2017, Atkins has a 30-18 record.

Atkins, 35, was a seventh round pick of the Chicago Cubs in the 2004 Major League Draft out of Northeast Guilford High School in McLeansville. He made his MLB debut on July 29, 2009 with one scoreless inning of relief against the Houston Astros. He made his first big league start for the Baltimore Orioles against the Texas Rangers in 2011.

"This is going to be a different scenario for me because this will be the first time I've ever been able to stay home and pitch," said Atkins, who lives in Gibsonville. "It is going to be special to be able to have all the people I know come out to the park. There's a lot of family and friends who have never been able to see me do what I've been doing my whole life."