Former Mississippi State star Brent Rooker to participate in 2025 Home Run Derby
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Brent Rooker will be one of eight participants in this year’s Home Run Derby.
Rooker and MLB confirmed the news on Thursday afternoon. The former Mississippi State star has developed into one of baseball’s best power hitters over the last few seasons. He’s currently on pace for his third consecutive season of 30+ home runs.
So far this season, Rooker has hit 19 home runs in 94 games for the Athletics. Since the start of the 2023 campaign, Rooker has hit 88 home runs. That’s 9th-most in MLB over that span, with only 18 sluggers hitting 75+ homers during that time period. Amongst AL hitters, only Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh have more homers since the start of 2023.
This will be Rooker’s second All-Star appearance as he also participated in the game last season. According to Robbie Faulk, Rooker is just the seventh former Mississippi State player to participate in multiple All-Star games. Brandon Woodruff is the only other active former Bulldog to accomplish that feat.
The rest of the Home Run Derby field includes Ronald Acuña, Byron Buxton, Junior Caminero, Oneil Cruz, Raleigh and James Wood. One more participant will be finalized in the coming days.
The Home Run Derby is slated for July 14 in Atlanta.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
