40 HRs in view, Rooker's 'unreal' surge continues

ARLINGTON -- Despite posting strong offensive numbers across the board, Brent Rooker was not selected to this year’s All-Star Game, something many across baseball -- especially those inside the A’s clubhouse -- viewed as a snub.

Playing his first game back at Globe Life Field -- the site of this year’s Midsummer Classic -- since the perceived slight, Rooker delivered an All-Star type of performance on Friday night.

Opening up a three-game series against the Rangers, Rooker added to his ongoing career-best year by slugging his 32nd and 33rd home runs in Oakland’s 9-2 victory over Texas.

At this pace, Rooker stands a chance to reach 40 home runs, something no A’s player has done since Khris Davis bashed 48 homers in 2018, capping a stretch of three consecutive seasons with at least 40 big flies for the slugger.

Reaching 40 would be quite the feather in Rooker’s cap, though it’s not something he’s necessarily targeting as an objective. At least, not publicly.

"The goal is 34,” Rooker said with a grin. “Right now."

The more important goal for Rooker and the A’s is the one they set out post-All-Star break to finish the second half with a winning record. After going 15-9 in July to snap a streak of 11 consecutive full months with a losing record, Friday’s win clinched the A’s a winning record for August (14-11), marking their first time posting a winning record in back-to-back months since May-June of 2021.

"It shows the progress we’ve made,” Rooker said. “We’ve done a good job throughout the course of this year by setting small goals for ourselves to achieve. Two of those have been have a winning month in July, then have a winning month in August. We’ve been able to accomplish both those things against some good teams that are going to be in the postseason or not too far off. … We want to continue that moving forward and do it again in September.”

This sustained stretch of A’s success nearly coincides with the tear Rooker has been on for over two months. Since June 25, Rooker is batting .325 (63-for-194), with 20 home runs and 46 RBIs over 52 games. Only Yankees superstar Aaron Judge has more homers (23) over that stretch.

Among AL hitters for the entire season, Rooker ranks fourth in slugging percentage (.575) and is tied for fourth in homers, is sixth in OPS (.941), seventh in on-base percentage (.366) and eighth in RBIs (90).

"He’s starting to get that feeling that I get when you watch some of the stars of waiting on them to do something every time they go to the plate,” said A’s starting pitcher JP Sears, who limited the Rangers to one run across seven innings. "It’s just been unreal to watch him go about his process and become who he is the past two years."

The multihomer game was Rooker’s third this season. The first homer -- a solo blast off Rangers starter Jon Gray in the first inning -- came on a first-pitch fastball up in the zone, which Rooker sent halfway up the left-field seats a Statcast-projected 416 feet.

When putting the first pitch of an at-bat in play, Rooker is 30-for-64, good for the 11th-highest batting average (.469) among all qualified Major League hitters in such scenarios this season. His seven first-pitch homers are tied for 10th most in MLB.

"I think being committed to a plan and, at times, being OK with swinging and missing at the first pitch,” Rooker said of his first-pitch approach. “Making sure that, if I think I’m going to get a heater, that I’m on time and catching it out front in a position to do damage with it."

Rooker’s second home run -- a 397-foot solo shot to left-center -- came on a 3-2 slider.

"He can do damage on any pitch,” manager Mark Kotsay said of Rooker. “The most impressive part was that two-strike home run. He was committed to staying on a baseball, got a breaking ball up in the zone and wasn’t focused on pulling it. It pulled itself, really."

Coming off a potent display in Cincinnati in which they tied a franchise record for most home runs in a three-game series with 11, the A’s continued flexing that power with four long balls on Friday. In addition to Rooker’s double-dip, JJ Bleday launched his 20th homer in the third, while Shea Langeliers set a new career high with his 23rd home run in the ninth.

"The at-bats have been great,” Kotsay said. “It continued tonight. There’s a lot of momentum to the offense. The guys are really locked in right now."