A’s DH Brent Rooker wins AL Silver Slugger Award

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A’s designated hitter Brent Rooker has been named a 2024 Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger award winner. Rooker is the first A’s player to win the award since third baseman Eric Chavez in 2002 and the first Athletic to win it as a designated hitter.

Rooker, 30, batted .293 with 39 home runs, 112 RBI, and a .927 OPS in 145 games this season, including 131 games at designated hitter. Among all Major League batters, he was tied for fourth in RBI, sixth in slugging (.562), tied for fifth in home runs, and eighth in OPS. As a designated hitter, he ranked first among American League batters in home runs (34) and RBI (99) and ranked second in OPS (.911).

Rooker ranked third in the American League in RBI, tied for fourth in home runs, and seventh in batting, becoming the first A’s player to be in the AL top-10 in all three Triple Crown categories since Miguel Tejada in 2002. His 34 home runs as a designated hitter rank sixth in A’s history and his 99 RBI at the position rank fifth.

The Silver Slugger Award is the top offensive award in Major League Baseball, with the season’s best players at each position selected in a vote by MLB coaches and managers in their respective leagues. Each team receives four votes: the manager and three coaches of their choice. Votes are based on a combination of offensive statistics including OBP, OPS, OPS+, home runs, hits, RBI and batting average as well as the managers’ and coaches’ general impressions of a player’s overall offensive value. Louisville Slugger has presented the Silver Slugger Awards annually since 1980.