ATLANTA — Athletics slugger Brent Rooker came less than an inch from advancing into the semifinals of the T-Mobile Home Run Derby on Monday night.
Leaning heavy on the pull side at Truist Park, Rooker hit 17 home runs in Round 1 and was in good position to advance — until Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh also hit 17 homers and edged Rooker out by distance, with the top four home run totals in the first round moving onto the semifinals.
Raleigh’s longest home run was 470.62 feet.
Rooker’s longest was 470.54.
On a night when Rooker amassed 7,280 feet total across 17 home runs, his Derby finish came down to .08 feet of a distance differential. That slight difference put Raleigh into the semifinals.
But it wasn’t a bad round for Rooker by any means. He hit three home runs in the bonus round, notching an extra out with his first homer at 446 feet. Rooker averaged 428 feet across his 17 long balls. He hit six homers of at least 440 feet.
Wielding a green-and-yellow bat — with ‘”Rook” painted on the green right before the yellow tip — in honor of the team that believed in him and made him a core piece of its present and future, Rooker got out to a hot start, launching baseballs quickly when his round started. His first three swings resulted in homers.
His performance immediately woke the crowd at Truist Park up, with Rooker showing off his massive power again and again — and home runs on eight of his first nine swings in the first 45 seconds.
As he slowed down near the end of the first round, Rooker had to take a couple of deep breaths, making sure he was taking his time, despite the clock ticking. That was the biggest piece of advice he got when he talked to the Mariners’ Julio Rodríguez and the Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr., past participants that Rooker talked to beforehand.
“As far as strategy goes, the time is the biggest thing,” Rooker said earlier on Monday. “You have 40 pitches and you have three minutes. So the biggest thing is just getting all 40 pitches in but using all the time you have. And pacing is a big thing. If you get that down, it’s just about taking good swings.”
