Twins Daily 2018 Top Prospects: #7 Brent Rooker

Excited about this kid!  Hope he finds the groove early in 2018!

Today at BPro, Rooker was Derek Florko's pick for next year's top 101, calling him possibly one of the more elite bats in all of minor league baseball. He noted:

The swing is not flashy, but he still manages to create a ton of power with efficient movements, movements that in his own words were created by watching “film of the best hitters in the world and find things that they all have in common, then I take those principles and try to apply them to my swing.”

I was hoping his middle name was James, or Jason, or maybe Jermaine, so I could call him "B.J. Rooker."  As it turns out, his middle name is...BRENT!  First name Terry.  Not sure how Gardy would've nicknamified Rooker; Rooky would work for the first year, but after that, it would just be mean.

THIS is the guy that I think surprises this year! If Kepler gets traded, I wouldn't be surprised to see him up after the All Star game; can't imagine Granite would really be holding his own by then. And what team couldn't use a Sano-type boost to their line up down the stretch?! Hell, maybe Mauer's production falls off a cliff and they insert Rook (nickname??) Into the lineup and don't trade Kepler afterall. I will DEFINITELY be grabbing tickets to see him play the Southern League Circuit this year (my sales territory includes Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi). Here we go boys! Baseball season is 2 days away!

Anybody got some minor league footage of Rooker? It'd be fun to see.

I was hoping his middle name was James, or Jason, or maybe Jermaine, so I could call him "B.J. Rooker."  As it turns out, his middle name is...BRENT!  First name Terry.  Not sure how Gardy would've nicknamified Rooker; Rooky would work for the first year, but after that, it would just be mean.

Rooksy

I don’t mean to throw cold water on the hype but Walker and Palka had similar (slightly better?) strikeout rates at A+. If he can bring that down to ~25% as he advances to double and triple A I’ll be more excited. Otherwise, we can probably anticipate the MLB strikeout rate being in the high 30s, which will be problematic.

I agree.  It's easy to amplify the positives and muffle the negatives, especially this time of year.  But, Rooker has way better plate discipline (especially compared to Walker), even though it's a small sample size.  That almost .500 OBP in the SEC his senior year does give reason to believe it's his game though.

Wow, that 2017 draft has the potential to be pretty outstanding.

Hard not to like Rooker at this point, and it would be great if he's able to move aggressively through the system. I'd like to see him cut down the K's too; I get that it's considered acceptable with his power production, but it'd be nice for someone with his apparent batting eye to make a little more contact too.

I think he probably starts the year in Ft. Myers and moves up quickly. How he responds to facing AA pitching is going to say a lot, and whether or not he can start handling the really explosive breaking stuff along with guys who are starting to learn how to pitch, not just dominate through sheer stuff.

I loved this pick when we made it, and the early returns are right where you'd hope they'd be.

I was hoping his middle name was James, or Jason, or maybe Jermaine, so I could call him "B.J. Rooker."  As it turns out, his middle name is...BRENT!  First name Terry.  Not sure how Gardy would've nicknamified Rooker; Rooky would work for the first year, but after that, it would just be mean.

Rooksy for sure

I disagree with one comment, Seth.  And that's about his moving up the ladder.  You see I want to see him take another step in April and then jump off that bloody ladder.

Who was that kid that the Cubs drafted real high a few years ago and jumped right to the majors a few weeks into his second season?  Rooker had to have as good of numbers as he did in college.  Why can't it happen for the Twins?

What surprised me when reading your post was that he hit over .280 average with a lot of walks.  That's a lot more than just home runs.  Get him up here in May as the full time DH along with backing up Mauer on his days off.

I disagree with one comment, Seth.  And that's about his moving up the ladder.  You see I want to see him take another step in April and then jump off that bloody ladder.

 

Who was that kid that the Cubs drafted real high a few years ago and jumped right to the majors a few weeks into his second season?  Rooker had to have as good of numbers as he did in college.  Why can't it happen for the Twins?

 

What surprised me when reading your post was that he hit over .280 average with a lot of walks.  That's a lot more than just home runs.  Get him up here in May as the full time DH along with backing up Mauer on his days off.

Talking about Kris Bryant?  You could toss him into that list of quick movers along with Bregman, Benintendi, etc.  Those guys are also above average defenders though.  However, solid offense can quickly drown out sub-par defense.  Worked for Delmon Young.  Right?.....(crickets)

Anybody got some minor league footage of Rooker? It'd be fun to see.

Ask and ye shall receive, some video I took of Rooker in the FSL, warning I didn't edit the at bats, I had a request to show his "routine" between swings and at bats

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2noJH1GeVg

Ask and ye shall receive, some video I took of Rooker in the FSL, warning I didn't edit the at bats, I had a request to show his "routine" between swings and at bats

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2noJH1GeVg

Hey Bob, Thanks for all you do.  First hand info from Ft. Myers is appreciated.

Ask and ye shall receive, some video I took of Rooker in the FSL, warning I didn't edit the at bats, I had a request to show his "routine" between swings and at bats

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2noJH1GeVg

Milles gratis, Mr. Bob. Good form on the swing, but he looks pretty tight. When Rooker loosens up and gets some rhythm, he could uncork some long shots. 

Hey Bob, Thanks for all you do.  First hand info from Ft. Myers is appreciated.

No problem but you'll be seeing alot less videos as I moved to Portland, Oregon back in November.  I'll be back in Ft. Myers in late March and early April, see those of you out there then.

I disagree with one comment, Seth.  And that's about his moving up the ladder.  You see I want to see him take another step in April and then jump off that bloody ladder.

 

Who was that kid that the Cubs drafted real high a few years ago and jumped right to the majors a few weeks into his second season?  Rooker had to have as good of numbers as he did in college.  Why can't it happen for the Twins?

If you're alluding to #2 overall pick, ROY, MVP Bryant, he was drafted in '13, then spent all of '14 in the minors, and was finally called up after about 10 games in '15 @ well over .300/.400/.600 until that call-up.

I might be high, but I would think Rooker needs more than 1/3 of the minor league PAs that Bryant got before he gets his ROY followed by his MVP in year 2.

Not to mention, that ROY will be harder to achieve than Bryant's, since some on this board appear to have Gonsalves and Romero penciled in for 150+ innings of sub-4.00 FIP ball.

Not to mention, that ROY will be harder to achieve than Bryant's, since some on this board appear to have Gonsalves and Romero penciled in for 150+ innings of sub-4.00 FIP ball.

Ah the sweet optimism of spring! The Twins have 3 ROY candidates!