Brent Rooker Addressed a Key Gap in 2024

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 holding his physique underneath 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 consequence 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 recreation, so his 32.7% strikeout price wasn’t all that shocking even after his changes. Groups settle for whiffs as a obligatory tradeoff for extra energy, however all these strikeouts had 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, resembling Mike Trout and Freddie Freeman, Rooker didn’t have the variability to change his swing to get to pitches exterior of his wheelhouse. This left him uncovered to excessive fastballs. Whilst he barely dropped his VBA in 2023, he nonetheless ran a 40% whiff price and .285 xwOBA on pitches on the high of the zone. That was the Sixteenth-worst whiff price out of 217 hitters who noticed not less than 1,500 pitches that season.

This all pertains to the steadiness that hitters with steeper swings should 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 loads of youthful hitters are compelled to reckon with once they attain the large leagues as a result of pitchers merely have nastier stuff and are higher at executing. Though Rooker developed a greater thought of how he might be profitable within the large leagues, he nonetheless had a significant gap to deal with. Boy did he try this this previous season!

Throughout 614 plate appearances this 12 months, Rooker was probably the greatest hitters in baseball, batting .292 with 39 homers, a 164 wRC+, and a .510 xwOBACON (99th percentile), whereas his strikeout price 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 constructive impression on his efficiency on the high of the zone:

It’s a easy story to trace. On common, Rooker’s swings had been flatter at contact, giving him a greater likelihood to be efficient on the high of the zone the place pitchers had been more likely to goal him this season. He took the largest gap in his recreation and made it a smaller one; because of this, his strengths performed up extra. In fact, that’s simpler mentioned than executed, so it’s value analyzing how he did it. Now comes the enjoyable a part of the evaluation.

Pondering by way of reciprocal actions, in an effort to get to a unique angle at contact, it appears doubtless that Rooker modified his preliminary place. And what are you aware? 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 palms are larger and his stride leg is barely open. He almost certainly opened up his entrance leg to enhance his steadiness and/or change his rotational course. Proper now, although, I’m extra serious about his adjusting his hand place.

Sometimes, batters increase their palms 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 vital. Having larger palms allowed him to make contact deeper within the zone. Have a look at the ultimate clip above from 2024. Regardless that he was late on this fastball, he might nonetheless rip a single to proper heart. We don’t have swing size information from 2023, so we will’t say for positive that Rooker’s swing was shorter in 2024, however batters with larger palms are inclined to have shorter, flatter swings. Pitches on the high of the zone get on batters extra shortly 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 minimize 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 improbable participant improvement story. He was not complacent after his preliminary breakout in 2023. As an alternative, he made extra changes to his profile. Many gamers need to repair their weaknesses, nevertheless 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 high hitters for some time.