When you think of Mississippi State baseball legends, 2 obvious players come to mind — Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro; however, Brent Rooker is not far behind either of them.

Rooker played at Mississippi State from 2014-17, redshirting his first year in 2014. Rooker had a nice freshman season in 2015, hitting .257 with 2 home runs and 12 RBIs. His sophomore season was better, as he hit .324 with 11 bombs and 54 RBIs. However, Rooker’s junior season is when he put things together, as he was named The Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year and SEC Player of the Year. The outfitter hit .387 with 23 home runs and 82 RBIs. He won the triple crown that year in the SEC just like Palmeiro did in Starkville in 1984.

Sometimes it takes players a year or 2 to get bigger, stronger and adjust to better pitching in college, and that’s the story of Rooker, only he just didn’t get better; he blew into the most feared hitter in the country.

The Twins selected Rooker with the 35th pick overall in the 2017 MLB Draft, getting a $1.935 million signing bonus. He’s spent the last 3 seasons in the minor leagues, hitting .267 with 54 bombs and 178 RBIs.