Happy Derby Day! The annual Home Run Derby is tonight and the Athletics will have one of their own participating. Designated hitter Brent Rooker was one of the final players invited to participate and we’ll all be pulling for him to put up a good showing on the national stage.
Rooker will be the first A’s player in the Home Run Derby since Matt Olson participated four seasons ago. And he’ll try to be the first to win it since Yoenis Cespedes did it in 2013. The first round will consist of either three minutes or 40 pitches, whichever comes first, and they can get a bonus period if they hit balls farther than 425 feet.