Not even Ohtani can slow Rooker's red-hot bat

ANAHEIM -- Following his second multihomer performance of April on Monday night, Brent Rooker admitted that even he was a bit surprised by his massive early-season success. Now nearly a month into the 2023 campaign, the A’s outfielder has shown zero signs of slowing down any time soon.

Rooker’s scorching start continued in Thursday afternoon’s 8-7 loss to the Angels, as he ended Shohei Ohtani’s impressive streak of 35 consecutive scoreless frames at Angel Stadium in emphatic fashion, sending a cutter over the wall in right-center field for an opposite-field three-run blast to spoil the two-way superstar’s no-hit bid in the fourth inning.

Intently watching from the visitors’ dugout and on-deck circle as Ohtani suddenly lost command by hitting and walking the first two batters ahead of him to begin the fourth, Rooker stuck to the same plan of attack he formulated before the game. Getting a 1-1 cutter down and away, he unloaded on his seventh homer of the year, which is tied for the second-most in the American League.

“I felt like I had a good game plan going in against [Ohtani], and I was going to stay stubborn to it,” Rooker said. “Obviously, his stuff is electric. He has the numbers that he has for a reason. He’s really, really good. But I had a very specific approach against it. I got a good pitch that I could handle. … I was able to put a good swing on it, and good things happen when you find barrels.”

Capping a four-game series in Anaheim by going 4-for-15 with a double, three homers, seven RBIs and four walks, Rooker is now 18-for-52 (.346) with seven home runs, 18 RBIs and 12 walks over his past 16 games.

“He continues to take really good at-bats,” manager Mark Kotsay said of Rooker. “His bat path stays in the zone a long time and gives him a chance to get some hits. For us, it’s nice to see a young player given this opportunity and really taking advantage of it.”

A quick look at Rooker’s BaseballSavant page displays a sea of red when it comes to the amount of force with which he’s smacking the ball. He ranks in the 99th percentile of Major League hitters in barrel rate, 84th percentile in average exit velocity and 83rd percentile in hard-hit rate. His homer on Thursday had an exit velocity of 102.9 mph, per Statcast.

This is nothing new for Rooker. Throughout the Minors, his propensity for well-struck balls stood out while he posted a .909 OPS with 102 homers over five Minor League seasons. After getting only limited opportunities in short stints with the Twins, Padres and Royals prior to this season, the 28-year-old is finally getting a chance to transfer that success over to the highest level in an everyday role with the A’s.

“I have generally the same approach I had last year in Triple-A playing every day,” Rooker said. “I put up big numbers there, so I was pretty confident that if given a chance here to do the same thing and get extended at-bats, I would also be able to have success and produce. That’s just kind of what’s happening.”

Of course, no hitter is immune to slumps. Rooker is conscious of the likelihood that a bad stretch will follow at some point. That’s why he’s less concerned about the numbers and more focused on the approach.

“The thing I’m happiest with is just the consistency of the quality at-bats,” Rooker said. “The numbers are what they are. Those are going to ebb and flow. But just the way I’ve felt in the box and competed against some really good arms, and the way I’ve felt doing it, there’s never been a time where I’ve been in the box and things have sped up on me or I’ve felt overmatched.

“I feel really confident competing against the best of the best. That’s what I’m most excited about. I think I can sustain that moving forward.”

Rooker’s long ball sparked a five-run fourth to tie the game against Ohtani. Falling behind again in the following two innings, a late comeback attempt fell one run short for the A’s, who have now lost each of their first eight series of the season for the first time in franchise history.

“Our team showed their fight against one of the best pitchers in the game,” Kotsay said. “Coming right back and putting up a five-spot showed some character. Again battling back in the eighth inning, that shows the fight and the grit."