Elephant Rumblings: Brent Rooker continues to impress

There hasn’t been much to cheer about for the Oakland Athletics on the field or off during the 2023 season. The A’s dropped their fourth straight Friday night, falling 11-7 to the Reds in the opener of a three-game series. They are 5-22 on the season and the pitching staff continues to be a mess.

However, one exciting development has been the play of Brent Rooker who continues to impress at the plate. Injuries to Seth Brown and Ramon Laureano opened the door to consistent playing time for Rooker and he has seized the opportunity.

Rooker had three hits and a walk, including his eighth home run of the season, in Friday’s game. He is second in the American League in homers trailing only Boston’s Rafael Devers.

For the season, Rooker is hitting .339/.455/.758 with a 232 wRC+. Shorten the sample to when he started seeing consistent playing time and those numbers jump too .382/.500/.855 with a 267 wRC+ over his last 17 games.

You have to look deep to see any bright spots given the current situation, but Rooker has been that over the first 27 games of the season.

A’s Coverage

• A’s lose 11-7 to Reds as Drew Rucinski makes return to MLB
• A’s reinstate Drew Rucinski from injured list, option Chad Smith to Las Vegas
• Fan protest in Oakland urges John Fisher to sell A’s after Las Vegas deal

MLB News

• Jacob deGrom exits start with forearm tightness
• Judge has MRI on hip: ‘We still don’t have a clear picture of it’
• Cancer-free Liam Hendriks already racking up K’s
• Dodgers place J.D. Martinez on injured list, activate Will Smith
• White Sox sign Clint Frazier, Bryan Shaw to minor league deals
• 14 Veterans with upcoming opportunity to opt out of minor league deals

Best of Twitter

A’s fans came prepared in the team’s first home game since the Las Vegas deal

Mark Kotsay during his postgame session.

Run Esteury run! If only he could get on base more.

Tyler Soderstrom hit his fifth home run of the season Friday night