WEST SACRAMENTO -- With this week marking the inaugural series at their new temporary home of Sutter Health Park, most Athletics players are spending their time away from the field just trying find their footing in a new location.
Brent Rooker is no exception.
Settling into his new house about 30 minutes from the ballpark along with his wife Allie and daughters Blair and Blake, Rooker has spent each morning of the A¡¯s first two home games unpacking and performing daddy duties.
"A lot of unboxing princess toys and putting together ice cream shops and doing a lot of dad-type stuff before I come over to the field,¡± Rooker said. ¡°It¡¯s nothing out of the ordinary. It¡¯s going to take a little bit to build that new routine and build those new habits, but it¡¯ll definitely get done.¡±
Rooker might not be fully settled into his place of residence yet, but his bat is clearly adapting to his new surroundings quite nicely. After collecting two hits in Monday¡¯s home opener, Rooker clubbed his second home run of the season and first big fly at Sutter Health Park in the A¡¯s 7-4 loss to the Cubs on Tuesday night.
Fresh off signing a five-year contract extension this offseason, Rooker¡¯s production thus far is about where the A¡¯s expect. He entered Tuesday tied for the most multi-hit games in the Majors (3) and has hit safely in four of the first six games of the season.
"I¡¯ve been pleased with my at-bats,¡± Rooker said. ¡°I¡¯m missing a few pitches here and there that I feel like I should take advantage of. But overall, my at-bats and our at-bats up and down the lineup have been pretty solid.¡±
The A¡¯s are living up to their identity as a home run team, having now homered in each of their first six games. Their last streak of six-plus games to begin a season came in 2002, when they homered in eight straight games. In addition to Rooker, Shea Langeliers also launched his second homer of the year on Tuesday, a two-run shot to left off Cubs starter Justin Steele.
The long ball has been a strength as much as it has been kryptonite for the A¡¯s over the past two days. Following Monday¡¯s 18-3 blowout loss, which saw the Cubs bash three home runs, Seiya Suzuki and Kyle Tucker both homered off A¡¯s starter Luis Severino on Tuesday.
"This Cubs team is swinging the bat well,¡± manager Mark Kotsay said. ¡°When you run into a team swinging the bats well with some confidence, the result is what it is.¡±
Coming into the season, the expectation was that Sutter Health Park would play somewhat neutral in regard to hitters and pitchers, with perhaps a shift toward hitter-friendly as the weather heats up in the summer. But with nine total homers through two games, one might begin to wonder if the ballpark might be more hitter-friendly than originally anticipated.
There are external factors to consider, including unusual winds blowing out toward center field during the first two games. For Severino, who provided much-needed length with six innings but allowed six runs (five earned) on six hits and three walks with six strikeouts, his two homers allowed were less about the park and more about the location of the two pitches to Suzuki and Tucker, both of which were fastballs that caught far too much of the plate.
"Those two homers are out at any park,¡± Severino said. ¡°The ballpark is good. I just need to make better pitches.¡±
None of Tuesday¡¯s home runs would classify as a ¡°cheapie.¡± According to Statcast, Rooker¡¯s home run would have been out in 16 of 30 Major League stadiums, while the other three homers would have cleared all 30 parks.
¡°I think it¡¯s still too early to tell,¡± Rooker said. ¡°There have been guys who have hit some balls good, and it¡¯s been windy. We¡¯re going to need several more games before we can really tell how it¡¯s playing. There¡¯s been a lot of offense. Where that credit lies, I¡¯m not really sure.¡±
After what Kotsay described as the ¡°chaos¡± of Opening Day with so much to take in, he said Tuesday felt a bit more normal, leading to a much better performance on the field from the previous night.
¡°It¡¯ll take a few days to settle in and get used to a new setting,¡± Rooker said. ¡°It felt like a pretty normal game today. It didn¡¯t go the way we wanted to, but we did some things well and have some things we can still learn from.¡±