Former A's Prospect Now Playing with San Francisco Giants

Jason Burke | Jun 4, 2024

May 31, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants first baseman Trenton Brooks (61) bats during the sixth inning against the New York Yankees at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports / Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

Late last season the Oakland A's and San Francisco Giants made a trade--sort of. The two clubs made a player-for-player deal for the first time since December of 1990, but it was also a swap of minor-league players, so whether or not it counts as a "real trade" is up to the reader.

One of the players that was dealt was veteran left-hander Sean Newcomb, who tossed 15 innings with the A's and held a 3.00 ERA before landing on the IL to end his 2023 season. He has had surgery on each of his knees since, and is currently in Triple-A on a rehab assignment, working towards his season debut.

The player the A's traded to San Francisco was outfielder Trenton Brooks, who made his big-league debut at home against the Philadelphia Phillies last week, and he collected his first career hit off New York Yankees starter Marcus Stroman on Friday.

While he was primarily a corner outfielder for the A's in the minors, the Giants have him at first base with LaMonte Wade Jr. on the IL. He began getting reps at first base back in 2021 while in the Guardian's organization, playing 91 games at the position between Double-A and Triple-A, and that trend continued in 2022. He hit the free agent market following the '22 campaign, and Brooks signed a minor-league deal with the A's.

In Oakland's system, he played 73 games in the outfield and 28 at first base. He split time fairly evenly between the outfield and first base after his trade to the Giants.

Brooks is currently 1-for-9 (.111) with a .273 OBP and two runs scored to begin his MLB career. He went 0-for-3 in last night's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks with a pair of fly outs. His fly out in the third came off that bat at 93.4 miles per hour, which is decent contact, but at a launch angle of 42 degrees. The second fly out was at 39 degrees and 88.3 mph.

These aren't terrible exit velocities, and this was the first game so far that he's racked up more than one at-bat and not struck out, so there is some small reason to hope he can turn it around. The key for him will be to drive the ball a little more instead of lifting it. If he can lower the launch angle he showed last night by 15-20 degrees, he may be in business.

He was hitting .308 with a .426 OBP with the Sacramento River Cats in the minors this season.