Athletics have a serious .194 Brent Rooker problem entering June

The 2026 season has been an odd one for the Athletics. They were in first place for much of May, but have since lost the AL West lead to the Seattle Mariners.

But, overall, the team is still in decent shape at 28-31, only 3.0 games back of the AL West lead. Retaking the lead will be hard, especially with their biggest problem on the roster not going away.

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report highlighted the biggest issue for the A's this season, and it revolves around Brent Rooker, the $60 million slugger whose .194 batting average is a serious issue for the team entering June.

Athletics have a Brent Rooker problem

"But is Brent Rooker ever going to join the party?" Miller writes. "... But after a three-year stretch with an .853 OPS, he's all the way down at .646 this season."

Rooker was one of the better hitters in baseball the last couple of seasons, posting an .817 OPS in 2023, a .927 OPS in 2024, and an .814 OPS in 2025.

But after three strong years and a $60 million extension, Rooker is struggling mightily this season. His .646 OPS is not great, and the .194 batting average is fairly alarming.

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While the A's have gotten good production from Nick Kurtz, Carlos Cortes, Shea Langeliers, Tyler Soderstrom, and even Zack Gelof, the production from Rooker has been severely disappointing.

His .646 OPS is one of the worst marks on the team, only ahead of Lawrence Butler among A's hitters with at least 60 at-bats this season.

Rooker is supposed to be one of the main contributors to the offense, but his overall production has been incredibly lackluster.

If he can't turn things around, the Athletics are not going to be a postseason hopeful, as he's way too important to the A's offense to be producing as little production as he is right now.

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