Former Bulldog Brent Rooker called up to the big leagues
The following is courtesy of Mississippi State media relations:
Three years removed from becoming the second baseball student-athlete in Southeastern Conference history to win the Triple Crown, former Mississippi State baseball All-American Brent Rooker will make his Major League Baseball debut for the Minnesota Twins in game one of a doubleheader against Detroit on Friday (Sept. 4).
Rooker is the ninth Diamond Dawg to make his big league debut since 2016, which ranks tied for No. 2 in the SEC during that time. He is the 62nd Diamond Dawg in program history to reach Major League Baseball and will start his first career game in left field and bat seventh against Detroit’s Matthew Boyd. The 1:10 p.m. CT first pitch will be featured as MLB Network’s Free Game of the Day.
The Twins selected Rooker’s contract from the Alternate Training Site and placed outfielder Max Kepler on the 10-day injured list.
Rooker will become the seventh Mississippi State alum to suit up for what is now the Minnesota Twins organization. Most recently, John Shave played 19 games in 1998 and Gary Rath made five appearances with one start in 1999. The quartet of Jim Lyle (1925), Monroe Mitchell (1923), C.S. “Buddy” Myer (1925-27; 29-41) and Del Unser (1968-71) each appeared for the organization when it was known as the Washington Senators.
In three seasons in the minor leagues, Rooker has compiled a .267 batting average with 54 home runs, 178 RBIs and a .399 on-base percentage in 259 games played. Last season, in 65 games for the Triple A Rochester Red Wings, Rooker hit .281 with a .398 on-base percentage and .535 slugging percentage. He posted 14 home runs and 47 RBIs.
Rooker became the 14th Diamond Dawg to be picked in the first round of the MLB Draft as the Twins selected him 35th overall in the 2017 MLB Draft. In his final season at MSU in 2017, Rooker joined fellow MSU slugger Rafael Palmeiro as the only two baseball student-athletes to ever to win the SEC Triple Crown, tallying 23 home runs, 82 RBIs and a .387 batting average.
His historic season earned him first-team All-SEC, consensus first-team All-America honors and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's National Player of the Year.
Rooker also led MSU's 2016 SEC Championship team in home runs (11) and RBIs (54), on his way to a second-team All-SEC nod. The right-handed hitter was drafted by the Twins in the 38th round in 2016 but chose to return to school for his senior season. Rooker was a two-time Academic All-SEC performer, along with earning SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll in 2015.
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