Oakland Athletics' Brent Rooker (25) hits a solo home run against the Cincinnati Reds in the fourth inning at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Sunday, April 30, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
OAKLAND — Brent Rooker concedes he is having some difficulty processing his new-found status as an American League All-Star.
Rooker, 28, was the Athletics selection Sunday to the 2023 All-Star game in Seattle on the basis of a red hot start which has since tailed off into a slump for the better part of the last two months.
So being included on the American League team with the likes of the Los Angeles Angels’ Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout and the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge is pretty heady stuff.
“I will feel very out of place. I promise that,” Rooker said. “I will look around the clubhouse and kind of wonder who let me in and why they let me in. But it will be a real cool feeling and I’m going to be one of the guys in that clubhouse. I am going to be the guy looking around wide-eyed and star-struck, that’s for sure.”
Rooker, claimed off waivers from the Kansas City Royals last November, is the A’s leader in both home runs (13) and RBIs (39). Other candidates included two rookies, center fielder Esteury Ruiz, who leads the American League with 42 steals, and first baseman Ryan Noda, the MLB leader in walks (56) and among the leaders in on-base percentage.
How did Rooker become one of the 23 players named to the American League team? MLB rules mandate at least one selection per team, and Rooker gained notice for a month of April in which he hit nine homers, drove in 22 runs and had a .353/.465./779 slash line. He was named American League Player of the Week on May 1.
From April 24 to May 1, Rooker was 10-for-24 with five home runs and 11 RBIs and he was among the major league leaders in categories such as slugging percentage and OPS.
The power surge gained enough notice that when players cast their vote for the American League designated hitter, Rooker finished second in the balloting to Ohtani, according to the Athletics. Rooker has played 39 of his 71 games as a DH. The players vote is taken into consideration when the Commissioner’s Office fills out rosters apart from from the starters.
3-run homer for Rooker! pic.twitter.com/xjEqgXng9j
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) April 27, 2023
Included during the hot streak was a three-run home run against Ohtani in Anaheim on April 27, and one of the first orders of business for Rooker in Seattle will be a bit of memorabilia.
“There’s a really cool picture of me hitting a homer against Ohtani in Anaheim and I’m going to approach him very humbly and try to get him to sign it,” Rooker said. “That is something I would love to have forever. If there’s anybody doubting he’s the best baseball player of all time I don’t know who they are.
“He could be the front page story in every newspaper every day and it wouldn’t be talked about enough.”
In truth, there weren’t a lot of good options on an A’s team that went into Sunday’s game with the worst record in baseball at 23-62. The pitching staff has been a disaster most of the season. Both Ruiz and Noda have seen their batting averages dip of late and play at positions where the league-wide competition was stiff.
It’s been rough going for Rooker since the calendar moved into May and beyond. He hit .198 in May and .191 in June with four home runs and 17 RBIs. When the A’s closed out a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox and right-handed starter Touki Toussaint at the Coliseum, Rooker wasn’t even in the starting lineup.
Rooker entered the game as a pinch hitter for Conner Capel in the sixth inning and took a called third strike from Chicago reliever Aaron Bummer.
“It’s a tough league up here,” Rooker said. “Pitchers are good. They make adjustments. It’s all about making constant adjustments to your apporach, your game plan or your swing. You’re trying to learn and improve throughout the season.”
For A’s manager Mark Kotsay, it was a special moment to inform one of his players he was an All-Star, similar to that of starter Paul Blackburn a year ago.
“He shouldn’t feel out of place. He’s an All-Star,” Kotsay said. “You live with that designation the rest of your life.”
Kotsay gave Rooker the word in front of his teammates at a morning meeting.
“It was a pretty special way to find out in front of your teammates and your friends like that,” Rooker said. “It’s overwhelming in a way. I’ve long believed I could be a big leaguer and produce here. To be completely transparent, I’ve never allowed myself to think I could make an Al-Star team.”
A late first-round draft pick out of Mississippi State in 2017 by the Minnesota Twins, Rooker won the Southeastern Conference Triple Crown. He was traded to the Padres organization in a deal involving leader Taylor Rogers and then sent to the Royals that same season.
It was a path similar to Blackburn in that the A’s pitcher had been designated for assignment by the A’s before working his way back up the ladder and into the starting rotation.
Like Blackburn, Rooker had his periods of doubt as he attempted to climb the minor league ladder while playing for three different organizations before joining the A’s.
“No matter how good you were in college, you realize this is an entire other level of player up here,” Rooker said. “You’re getting the international guys coming in from the Dominican and Venezuela and the player pool becomes so deep and so crazy talented, you realize how many good players there are.
“You have goals and expectations about getting into the big leagues, but it’s hard to imagine yourself getting to the specific level of All-Star.”
Chances are good Rooker will get an at-bat in Seattle, but if not, at least he’s got a great seat for the annual home run derby.
“I remember that more (than the game) when I was a kid,” Rooker said. “Being one of the guys on the field, sitting and watching the home run derby, that’s what I’m looking forward to.”
Originally published at Jerry McDonald