Brent Rooker on Athletics’ new ballpark, swing changes and more

Brent Rooker is the main cog for an Athletics team that is trying to turn the corner.

In 2024, The Athletics OF/DH Brent Rooker had an outstanding season.

As Frank Polito wrote on Athletics Nation, “This past season was clearly the break-out that A’s leadership and our fans expected.” Rooker finished the season 10th in AL MVP voting and won the AL Silver Slugger for the Designated Hitter, after hitting 39 home runs and driving in 112 runs. (Ben Clemens has provided insight into Rooker’s swing and adjustments.)

The action didn’t end there.

Rooker is coming off an offseason that saw him undergoing surgery for a forearm extensor injury in addition to signing a five-year, $60 million extension with a club option for 2030. And all the while, swirling in the background was The Athletics’ move to West Sacramento en route (eventually) to Las Vegas.

When The Athletics visited Coors Field last weekend (April 4-6), I had an opportunity to ask Rooker a few questions. He spoke about his early impressions of playing in Sacramento, his approach to hitting, and why he walks up to a Stevie Nicks song.

I’ve also included questions from Pat Graham (Associated Press) and Manny Randhawa (MLB.com).

The transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

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SB Nation: You’ve played one series at Sutter Health Park. I know it’s a small sample size, but you hit a couple of home runs there. What’s your initial take on the ballpark, and how do you think it will play? Are you going to have, like, a Pacific Coast League kind of experience there this season?

Brent Rooker: No, I think after those first three games, it will normalize a little bit. Those first three games are pretty windy, especially the first two. The first two had a non-normal wind there, blowing out pretty heavily. So I think it’ll come back to the mean a little bit once we get a bigger sample size and play some more games there.

SBN: I’ve read speculation you may hit as many as 50 home runs this year.

BR: That’d be great. We’ll see how that turns out. I’m going to do my very best.

SBN: During the offseason, you had surgery to repair a forearm extensor injury. Now you’re back to DHing. Can you talk a little bit about that? Charlie Blackman said that for him as a player, it was challenging to go from playing in the outfield to just DHing. Did you have to make those kinds of adjustments?

BR: I’ve spent a lot of time at DH throughout my entire career, whether it be in college, minor leagues, up through any time I spent in the big leagues. So if there was an adjustment to be made, I made it a while ago, and I’ve kind of gotten used to it at this point. I have my routine down. I know what I like to do. I know what I need to do to stay locked in the game, make sure I’m ready to go each and every at bat. So it’s not an issue at this point.

SBN: One of the things you’ve done as a hitter is change your swing. There were the big adjustments you made in 2023, and you kept building on them in 2024 How do you approach making those kinds of changes at the plate?

BR: I just do whatever I need to do, day to day, game to game, to compete that night. Whether there’s adjustments that need to be made or tweaks that need to be made to my swing or approach or game plan, whatever it is, I’m not afraid to make subtle changes here and there, to do whatever I feel is necessary to put myself in the best position to compete that night.

Pat Graham: Chase Dollander is going to make his major-league debut tomorrow. Do you study a lot of film on pitchers, and how do you study pitchers you’ve never seen?

BR: I’ll watch some video. I’ll look at some movement plots, some heat maps, things like that, see if there’s any specific pitcher he reminds me of that you can kind of compare him to, and then take a similar approach to him as you do other guys with that similar profile. I’ll look at the video, look at the report just like I would anybody else, put together a game plan and go out there and execute it.

Manny Randhawa: A lot of people look at this as a potentially fun team to watch. Do you guys get a sense you’re going to surprise a lot of people this year?

BR: We like our team. We like the group of guys we have in here, both from from a dynamic and chemistry perspective and as well as an on-field pride perspective. We think we’re getting better. We’ve shown flashes during these first eight games of things that we can do really well. We’ve also shared areas we need to improve on, like any young team does. So we’re just going to stay the course, stay focused on the course this year, do what we can to improve each and every day and see where we see where we stack up at the end of the year.

SBN: I have a couple of unrelated questions. You’ve said that Pilates is a part of your workout. How do you incorporate that? Bryce Harper said last year that it changed his approach to training.

BR: Yeah, I do it once or twice a week in the off season to supplement my normal, more traditional strength training stuff. I think it keeps my body healthy. It allows me to work on and train some things that maybe I would miss in a more traditional weight-room setting. So I’ve used it the last three years, and I like it a lot.

SBN: You’re walking out this year to Stevie Nicks’ “Edge of Seventeen.” It’s unusual for baseball players to walk out to female musicians. How did you arrive at Nicks as your walk-up music?

BR: I like the song. I used it all of last year, and it worked. And I am one who tends to really enjoy a strong female vocalist, so I kind of landed on that naturally. And it worked for me last year, so I just kept it rolling.

SBN: So that brings up something you said in a recent interview — that “Frozen” has become a big part of your life with your daughters. Any chance we’re going to hear any “Frozen” music?

BR: I doubt it — not unless Blair [his daughter] begins to pick my songs for me, in which case you probably would. But I’ll probably stick with the one I’ve got for now.

SBN: You’re a big social media person. What do you enjoy about that?

BR: I like the opportunity to bridge the gap between player and fan a little bit, to interact, to humanize yourself a little, to just give perspective on things that you may not have the opportunity to otherwise if you didn’t utilize that medium. I’m definitely more active in the off season than I am in-season for several reasons. But, it’s something I enjoy, and I’ll probably continue to do.

SBN: What’s the best post or video you’ve dropped, the one you’re proudest of?

BR: Um, I don’t know. I made some comments during the playoffs last year that did pretty well, and people seem to enjoy, so I like doing that kind of stuff.

SBN: Which feeds do you look to for inspiration?

BR: Other athletes, I think Max Homa does a good job on social media. I think Michael Kim, another golfer, does a pretty good job as well. Those guys do a good job of bringing humor, but also bringing some pretty in-depth insights, some things fans might find interesting. So I like those guys.

SBN: Last one from me. You’ve taken up chess. Does it have anything to do with your last name, “Rook?”

BR: Yeah, it could be. I’m not very good, but we got a lot of guys in here who play, so we’ve got some good competitions and good games going. Only one of us is actually good. Noah Murdoch is good. Everybody else is kind of average or middling, and we’re all trying to get better, so it’s fun.