Brent Rooker is a delightful human being and his presence on social media adds to the game. His tweet on Tuesday was what those that follow the A's DH have come to expect from him.
After the team released their long-awaited renderings to the public on Tuesday, everyone on Twitter began to poke holes in them, zooming in to see fans with way too many fingers, noticing that the sun is setting in the east, and starting threads about how you can tell they're AI generated.
One of the easier things to see if you squint was the scoreboard display that hangs over the field. On it, there is the A's lineup, which had Aledmys Díaz in left field and Jordan Díaz at third base, as well as Mike Moustakas playing for the Angels in the year 2028 at the age of 39.
The Twitter account (and YouTube sensation) Foolish Baseball also happened to notice what they had listed for Rooker's batting average.
The scoreboard also lists him as the right fielder, but that may just be nitpicking.
Seeing that batting average does make you wonder what the ballpark factors in Las Vegas could be like. In the Pacific Coast League last season, which is the Triple-A league that encompasses the Las Vegas Aviators, eight of 37 qualified batters hit over .300. That's roughly 22%.
Given that Rooker's approach last season was more about loud contact instead of hitting for average, it's tough to see him being a .300 hitter in his age 33 season. Then again, maybe he'll have to make some adjustments over the next few years that will morph him into the hitter shown on the board.
Or maybe, and this is the most likely scenario, this game is being played early-ish in the season. Maybe he goes 76-for-251 (.3027) and they round up. At that point in the year, if he's playing every day, we'd be looking at roughly 68-70 games played. Totally doable. He was a .300 hitter until May 16 last season when he was hitting .304 through 125 at-bats, going 38-for-125.
There are some that doubt the A's relocation plan, even after the latest renderings, but Brent Rooker being able to crush baseballs shouldn't be in doubt.
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