
I’ve been a fan of Brent Rooker since he was crushing baseballs at Mississippi State, so it was thrilling to see him elevate his offense in 2023 after three years of struggling within the majors. His enhancements stemmed from modifications he made to his load. He added bigger, slower actions as he ready to swing, which helped him to generate extra energy whereas conserving his physique beneath management. To do that, he switched from a easy toe faucet to a extra dramatic foot hover, permitting him to do a whole hand row whereas loading and giving him extra time to sync the rhythm of his higher and decrease physique earlier than exploding towards the ball.
The consequence was a breakout season wherein he batted .246 with 30 residence runs and a 126 wRC+. Regardless of his enhancements, although, Rooker was not a completed product. Strikeouts have all the time been a part of his recreation, so his 32.7% strikeout charge wasn’t all that stunning even after his changes. Groups settle for whiffs as a essential tradeoff for extra energy, however all these strikeouts have been indicative of a gap in Rooker’s swing that restricted his worth.
From 2020-2023, Rooker had one of many steepest swings in baseball, making it simpler for him to launch the ball within the air. However in contrast to different steep hitters, similar to Mike Trout and Freddie Freeman, Rooker didn’t have the variability to change his swing to get to pitches outdoors of his wheelhouse. This left him uncovered to excessive fastballs. At the same time as he barely dropped his VBA in 2023, he nonetheless ran a 40% whiff charge and .285 xwOBA on pitches on the prime of the zone. That was the Sixteenth-worst whiff charge out of 217 hitters who noticed no less than 1,500 pitches that season.
This all pertains to the steadiness that hitters with steeper swings must strike. Sure, it’s simpler to create launch with a steeper angle (duh!), however you don’t need to be one dimensional to the purpose the place you’re taking the identical swing each time. It’s an issue that a whole lot of youthful hitters are pressured to reckon with after they attain the massive leagues as a result of pitchers merely have nastier stuff and are higher at executing. Though Rooker developed a greater concept of how he might be profitable within the large leagues, he nonetheless had a significant gap to handle. Boy did he try this this previous season!
Throughout 614 plate appearances this yr, Rooker was the most effective hitters in baseball, batting .292 with 39 homers, a 164 wRC+, and a .510 xwOBACON (99th percentile), whereas his strikeout charge dropped to twenty-eight.8%. These are large enhancements throughout the board. Maybe unsurprisingly, his success this season got here with a flatter swing, which had a optimistic impression on his efficiency on the prime of the zone:
Rooker Higher Third Enhancements
Season | VBA | xwOBA | Whiff% |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | 36.7 | .285 | 39.8 |
2024 | 35.5 | .325 | 31.1 |
SOURCE: Baseball Savant, SwingGraphs
It’s a easy story to trace. On common, Rooker’s swings have been flatter at contact, giving him a greater likelihood to be efficient on the prime of the zone the place pitchers have been prone to goal him this season. He took the most important gap in his recreation and made it a smaller one; in consequence, his strengths performed up extra. After all, that’s simpler stated than completed, so it’s value inspecting how he did it. Now comes the enjoyable a part of the evaluation.
Considering by way of reciprocal actions, with the intention to get to a unique angle at contact, it appears doubtless that Rooker modified his preliminary place. And what have you learnt? That’s precisely what occurred! As soon as once more, he altered his setup. The next swings are all towards fastballs within the higher third of the zone, three from 2023 and three from this previous season:
2023
2024
Right here, you’ll discover two modifications that had a direct impression on the trail of his barrel: His fingers are larger and his stride leg is barely open. He almost definitely opened up his entrance leg to enhance his steadiness and/or change his rotational path. Proper now, although, I’m extra keen on his adjusting his hand place.
Usually, batters elevate their fingers to make it simpler to keep up a flatter barrel, make contact deeper within the zone, and shorten their swing size. That each one sounds fantastic, however some sluggers chorus from this adjustment as a result of it turns into tougher for them to create launch. Seems, that wasn’t the case for Rooker; his flatter swing was nonetheless steep sufficient to crush balls within the air.
The opposite profit right here is simply as necessary. Having larger fingers allowed him to make contact deeper within the zone. Take a look at the ultimate clip above from 2024. Despite the fact that he was late on this fastball, he might nonetheless rip a single to proper heart. We don’t have swing size knowledge from 2023, so we are able to’t say for certain that Rooker’s swing was shorter in 2024, however batters with larger fingers are likely to have shorter, flatter swings. Pitches on the prime of the zone get on batters extra shortly than pitches within the center or decrease thirds. To hit these excessive pitches, batters must get their barrels into the zone sooner, and shorter, flatter swings lower down the area that batters must cowl to get to the purpose of contact. This adjustment would clarify Rooker’s enchancment on pitches up within the zone.
Rooker’s path to stardom has been a implausible participant growth story. He was not complacent after his preliminary breakout in 2023. As a substitute, he made further changes to his profile. Many gamers need to repair their weaknesses, however it’s extremely laborious to take action. That Rooker recognized and addressed the outlet in his recreation so shortly is a testomony to his expertise and makes me extra assured that he’ll proceed to be one of many recreation’s prime hitters for some time.