OAKLAND -- Admittedly a bit disappointed by what many inside the A’s clubhouse viewed as an All-Star snub, Brent Rooker held out hope up until the final week of the first half that he might get the call as a late replacement for the Midsummer Classic.

All-Star festivities came and went at Globe Life Field in Texas earlier this week. Rooker, despite posting strong numbers across the board on offense, was denied a second consecutive All-Star selection. Instead, he spent the four-day break at home in Alamo, Calif. with his wife and baby daughter.

"It was pretty low-key,” Rooker said of his All-Star break. “Not a whole lot going on. It was relaxing. I hung around and did some local stuff."

Not being able to join teammate Mason Miller and manager Mark Kotsay in Arlington will always bother Rooker a bit, though he’s not letting it diminish what is shaping up to be an impressive year.

The slugger's strong 2024 campaign continued in Oakland’s 8-2 victory over the Angels on Saturday at the Coliseum, with Rooker smashing his 22nd homer of the year as part of a 2-for-3 day.

Rooker’s three-run blast off Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz traveled halfway up the left-field bleachers a Statcast-projected 445 feet. It was his ninth home run of at least 425 feet this season, which ranks as the third-most homers at that distance among all Major League hitters behind superstars Shohei Ohtani (14) and Aaron Judge (13), both of whom were All-Stars.

"When I’m finding the barrel, it’s going far,” said Rooker. "I think that goes into a lot of gameplanning stuff. Knowing when to pick my spots to maybe cheat, or sit on a pitch and take a chance and try to drive the ball out of the park."

Two-thirds of the way through July, Rooker has arguably been the best hitter in baseball this month. He is tied with teammate Lawrence Butler for the American League lead in home runs (seven). Among qualified AL batters, Rooker leads in batting average (.479), on-base percentage (.550), slugging percentage (.979), and OPS (1.529), while reaching base safely in each of his 14 games for the month.

"He’s extremely impressive,” said A’s starter Mitch Spence, who notched his sixth win of the year after limiting the Halos to two runs in 5 1/3 innings. "When he’s not just on an absolute tear, he doesn’t lose confidence. He’s still putting together great at-bats. That’s what makes a great hitter. When he’s doing what he’s doing right now, it’s just unbelievably fun to watch.”

For the season, Rooker ranks in the top eight among AL hitters in homers, RBIs (65), batting average (.294), slugging percentage (.579), and OPS (.951).

The scary part for the rest of the league? This isn’t even the finished product. Rooker still believes there is another level for him to reach as a hitter, which he is striving to achieve in the second half.

"I’m a better hitter than I was at this point last year,” Rooker said. “But I don’t think I’m anywhere near as good as I can be. I’m just going to try to continue to work and put in the preparation to continue to get better."

Rooker and Butler keyed the offense for the A’s with three RBIs apiece. Butler drove in his three runs on one swing as well, smashing a three-run double to right in the fourth as the A's secured a series victory.

Butler is not too far behind Rooker’s production as of late. His 3-for-4 afternoon boosted his July batting average to .367 (18-for-49) in a month in which he’s also slugged seven homers and 22 RBIs with a 1.282 OPS.

"The at-bats that he’s taking now are reflective of what he was doing in Spring Training,” Kotsay said of Butler. "The adjustment to get his head still is giving him the opportunity to recognize pitches better and, thus, have the at-bats he’s having."

Now 9-5 in July, the A’s offensive surge throughout the lineup has them in line for a shot at their first winning month of 2024.

"We have a lot of guys playing well right now,” Rooker said. "We’re building momentum. The ultimate goal is to be better at the end of the year than we are right now."