Brent Rooker doesn’t plan to change his approach at the plate for the 2025 Home Run Derby.
“Just about every swing I’ve ever taken in my life, I’ve been trying to hit a home run,” the Athletics slugger said. “It’s not like I have to change too much in that regard, but I did get out here early yesterday and got a feel for a 3-minute round to kind of feel the timing of it.”
Rooker and New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. were added Thursday to the list of derby participants, completing the eight-player field. The event will take place Monday night in Atlanta ahead of Tuesday night’s All-Star Game.
Rooker will become the first Athletics player in the Home Run Derby since Matt Olson in 2021.
“I think it’s going to be fun,” Rooker said. “I’m looking forward to it. As a kid growing up, that was one of the highlights of the summer was watching the Home Run Derby and seeing the guys participate.”
The 30-year-old Rooker entered Thursday with a .270 batting average, 19 homers and 50 RBIs, putting him on pace for a third straight season of at least 30 homers. He went deep 30 times in 2023 and had 39 homers in 2024.
His 58 homers since the start of the 2024 season rank him third among American League players.
Joe Caruso, Rooker’s longtime youth coach, will pitch to him. A’s manager Mark Kotsay joked with Rooker that he should have asked him, but Rooker said he “respected my manager’s four-day break.”
“You get the opportunity to go compete and show your skillset,” Kotsay said. “We have all watched Rook hit homers, 39 of them last year, so I think it’s deserving that they selected him. It’ll be fun to have something entertaining to watch on Monday night.”
The only A’s players to win the derby were Mark McGwire in 1992 and Yoenis Céspedes in 2013 and 2014.
Chisholm, a 27-year-old two-time All-Star, is making his first appearance in the derby and will become the seventh different Yankees player to participate. Five have won the event; Aaron Judge was the most recent in 2017.
Acquired from the Miami Marlins last July, Chisholm began the day batting .250 with 17 homers and 43 RBIs in 62 games this season. The left-handed hitter homered twice Wednesday night against Seattle and had seven home runs in his last 12 games. He had 10 homers since returning from an oblique injury on June 3.
Chisholm was asked on Wednesday night if he would like to participate in the derby.
“I mean, if they call me and ask me, I probably would be interested in doing it,” he said.
The other scheduled participants are Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr., Minnesota’s Byron Buxton, Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero, Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz, Seattle’s Cal Raleigh and Washington’s James Wood.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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