In November 2022, Brent Rooker was designated for assignment by the Kansas City Royals, and two days later, the Oakland Athletics signed him and added him to their roster. Before the 2023 season, Rooker was the last player to make the A’s 26-man opening game roster from training camp. On Saturday, he hit his 30th home run for the second consecutive year as a member of the green and gold team, wearing the Oakland logo on his chest in Kelly Green.
Rooker is now the first Oakland player since Khris Davis from 2016-18 to hit 30 home runs in back-to-back seasons, reaching his career high with more than a month to go in the season.
When asked what it means to him to have reached the 30 home run milestone at this point in the season, Rooker replied, “It means I’m better than I was last year, and that’s always the goal. I’m just going to continue to improve and keep that progress and continue down this path until I’m the best player I can be. I don’t think I’m there yet.”
Rooker has a .289 batting average, .366 OBP and .935 OPS this year. That OPS ranks ninth in baseball, just behind Yordan Alvarez’s .940. His 30 home runs rank eighth in baseball, tied with Arizona MVP candidate Ketel Marte, and his average ranks 18th overall. He has become an incredible all-around hitter this season and still believes he can go to another level.
How he plans to reach that level is still up in the air, but he will take the same approach next year as he did before the 2024 season. “Whether it’s momentum, approach, game planning, mental skills or whatever, I just think I can always get better and that’s going to be my goal.”
His swing is pretty well tuned, his barrel% is in the 98th percentile, his hard hit rate is in the 94th and his launch angle sweet spot is in the 96th, so when he hits, he does damage. Sometimes, like Saturday, he can still make good contact that results in an out. He hit the ball away from the bat at 107.1 mph, resulting in a line out to left in the bottom of the first inning. He finished the day 3-for-4 with his milestone homer, a double, an intentional walk and three runs batted in.
Rooker, 29, is under the team’s control through the 2029 season and was a player who was heavily talked about in transfer rumors before last month’s deadline. But as he told NBC Sports California, “I couldn’t be happier to still be here. The guys in this clubhouse are a special group, we’re moving in the right direction and I’m excited to see where it goes.”
