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 adjustments he made to his load. He added bigger, slower actions as he ready to swing, which helped him to generate extra energy whereas maintaining his physique beneath management. To do that, he switched from a easy toe faucet to a extra dramatic foot hover, permitting him to do an entire 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 end result was a breakout season during which he batted .246 with 30 house runs and a 126 wRC+. Regardless of his enhancements, although, Rooker was not a completed product. Strikeouts have at all times been a part of his sport, so his 32.7% strikeout fee wasn’t all that stunning even after his changes. Groups settle for whiffs as a crucial 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 not like different steep hitters, comparable 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. Whilst he barely dropped his VBA in 2023, he nonetheless ran a 40% whiff fee and .285 xwOBA on pitches on the high of the zone. That was the Sixteenth-worst whiff fee out of 217 hitters who noticed a minimum of 1,500 pitches that season.
This all pertains to the stability that hitters with steeper swings need to 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 number of youthful hitters are pressured to reckon with once 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 may very well be profitable within the large leagues, he nonetheless had a serious gap to handle. Boy did he try this this previous season!
Throughout 614 plate appearances this yr, Rooker was among the finest hitters in baseball, batting .292 with 39 homers, a 164 wRC+, and a .510 xwOBACON (99th percentile), whereas his strikeout fee 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 affect on his efficiency on the high 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 probability to be efficient on the high of the zone the place pitchers have been prone to goal him this season. He took the largest gap in his sport and made it a smaller one; consequently, his strengths performed up extra. After all, that’s simpler stated than finished, so it’s price analyzing how he did it. Now comes the enjoyable a part of the evaluation.
Pondering when it comes to reciprocal actions, so as to get to a special angle at contact, it appears seemingly 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 adjustments that had a direct affect on the trail of his barrel: His palms are greater and his stride leg is barely open. He more than likely opened up his entrance leg to enhance his stability and/or change his rotational route. Proper now, although, I’m extra fascinated with his adjusting his hand place.
Usually, batters elevate their palms to make it simpler to keep up a flatter barrel, make contact deeper within the zone, and shorten their swing size. That every one sounds fantastic, however some sluggers chorus from this adjustment as a result of it turns into harder 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 essential. Having greater palms allowed him to make contact deeper within the zone. Have a look at the ultimate clip above from 2024. Despite the fact that he was late on this fastball, he may nonetheless rip a single to proper middle. We don’t have swing size information from 2023, so we are able to’t say for certain that Rooker’s swing was shorter in 2024, however batters with greater palms are likely to have shorter, flatter swings. Pitches on the high of the zone get on batters extra rapidly than pitches within the center or decrease thirds. To hit these excessive pitches, batters have to get their barrels into the zone sooner, and shorter, flatter swings lower down the area that batters have to 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 unbelievable 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 arduous to take action. That Rooker recognized and addressed the opening in his sport so rapidly is a testomony to his expertise and makes me extra assured that he’ll proceed to be one of many sport’s high hitters for some time.