Athletics star designated hitter Brent Rooker strung together the best season of his five-year MLB career -- all while injured.
A’s general manager David Forst recently revealed Rooker played through the 2024 campaign with a forearm injury and underwent surgery Tuesday.
"He was not 100 percent healthy all year,” Forst said Friday during an end-of-season Zoom call (h/t MLB.com). “I’m not a doctor, but it strikes me as very impressive that he was able to battle through what he did and put up the offensive season that he had."
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Two days after Oakland's final game of the regular season, Rooker met with Dr. Michael Freehill to clean up a forearm extensor injury, which prevented the 29-year-old from playing in the outfield for most of the season.
Despite the injury, Rooker finished the season with team-highs of 160 hits, 112 RBI and 39 home runs while slashing .293/.365/.562 with a .927 OPS.
“Rook was on the training table every day and made sure he got out there and got his swings,” Forst said. “He was the guy we wanted up in every situation. … He was absolutely the anchor in the middle of the lineup that we’ve been looking for really since [Khris Davis] was doing what he was doing.
"I’m thrilled to have Rook and thrilled for his success.”
Oakland Athletics
On top of dealing with an injury for more than six months, there also was the distraction of the A's Oakland departure. But Rooker didn't let anything stop him, and surely he put on a historic performance for the team's final gig in the East Bay.
Thank you, Oakland.
— Brent Rooker (@Brent_Rooker12) September 26, 2024