Brent Rooker is not taking Jeff Passan’s disrespect

Brent Rooker is not taking the disrespect from Jeff Passan.

Rooker was both a contestant in the MLB Home Run Derby this week, and he was chosen by American League manager Aaron Boone to be one of the team’s three representatives in the swing-off during Tuesday’s All-Star Game. Rooker hit two home runs on his three pitches, which was second only to Kyle Schwarber in terms of the best performances among the six swing-off participants.

Passan, who is a veteran baseball reporter for ESPN, commented on X that he was disappointed with the players who were chosen to participate in the swing-off. Instead of Rooker, Jonathan Aranda and Randy Arozarena representing the AL, and Pete Alonso, Schwarber and Kyle Stowers representing the NL, Passan preferred some other competitors. His ideal matchup would have been:

AL – Aaron Judge, Cal Raleigh, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
NL – Shohei Ohtani, Pete Alonso, Kyle Schwarber