Rooker Named to USA Baseball Premier12 Roster
October 10, 2019 | Baseball
Rooker joins Adam Frazier at Diamond Dawgs to play for USA Baseball’s professional team
by: Greg Campbell, Assistant Director/Communications
STARKVILLE – After earning unanimous All-America honors during his senior season at Mississippi State, Brent Rooker has quickly become one of the Minnesota Twins' top prospects and on Thursday (Oct. 10) was selected as a part of USA Baseball's roster for the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12™.
The WBSC Premier12™ 28-man roster is made up of 15 pitchers and 13 position players currently not on an MLB 40-man roster. The event will begin in Guadalajara, Mexico, from November 2-4. Team USA is a member of Group A with the Dominican Republic, Mexico and the Netherlands. The top two nations from Group A will advance to the Super Round in Tokyo from November 11-16.
The tournament is the first opportunity for USA Baseball to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The top finisher from both the Americas territory and Asia/Oceania territory (excluding Japan) will join host-country Japan and WBSC Baseball Europe/Africa Olympic Qualifier champion Israel in the six-team Olympic tournament. The final two Olympic berths will be decided in March 2020.
The USA Baseball professional team began competing in 1998 and Rooker joins Adam Frazier as the only two Diamond Dawgs to appear on the roster. Frazier helped the 2015 Premier12™ team finish No. 2 in Group B and advance all the way to the championship game of the event, eventually falling to Japan in the gold medal game.
It has been a big year for the Diamond Dawgs and Team USA, as head coach Chris Lemonis, along with sophomores Tanner Allen, Justin Foscue and Jordan Westburg were all a part of the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Trials, with Allen and Foscue earning spots on the 24-man roster for the summer of competition.
State's history with USA Baseball began in 1984 with Will Clark earning a spot with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team and competing at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Allen and Foscue became the first MSU duo to compete on a USA Baseball team together, while Rooker marks the 12th Diamond Dawg overall to be selected to wear the red, white, and blue.
In his final season at MSU in 2017, Rooker became just the second player ever to win the SEC Triple Crown, tallying 23 home runs, 82 RBIs and a .387 batting average. His historic season earned him first-team All-SEC, consensus first-team All-America honors and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's National Player of the Year. Rooker also led MSU's 2016 SEC Championship team in home runs (11) and RBIs (54).
Rooker became the 14th Diamond Dawg to be picked in the first round of the MLB Draft as the Minnesota Twins selected him 35th overall in 2017. He earned his call up to the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings ahead of the 2019 season, where he hit .281, slugged at a .933 percentage and had 14 home runs in 65 games. The Germantown, Tennessee, native currently sits as the No. 8 prospect in the Twins organization.
STARKVILLE – After earning unanimous All-America honors during his senior season at Mississippi State, Brent Rooker has quickly become one of the Minnesota Twins' top prospects and on Thursday (Oct. 10) was selected as a part of USA Baseball's roster for the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12™.
The WBSC Premier12™ 28-man roster is made up of 15 pitchers and 13 position players currently not on an MLB 40-man roster. The event will begin in Guadalajara, Mexico, from November 2-4. Team USA is a member of Group A with the Dominican Republic, Mexico and the Netherlands. The top two nations from Group A will advance to the Super Round in Tokyo from November 11-16.
The tournament is the first opportunity for USA Baseball to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The top finisher from both the Americas territory and Asia/Oceania territory (excluding Japan) will join host-country Japan and WBSC Baseball Europe/Africa Olympic Qualifier champion Israel in the six-team Olympic tournament. The final two Olympic berths will be decided in March 2020.
The USA Baseball professional team began competing in 1998 and Rooker joins Adam Frazier as the only two Diamond Dawgs to appear on the roster. Frazier helped the 2015 Premier12™ team finish No. 2 in Group B and advance all the way to the championship game of the event, eventually falling to Japan in the gold medal game.
It has been a big year for the Diamond Dawgs and Team USA, as head coach Chris Lemonis, along with sophomores Tanner Allen, Justin Foscue and Jordan Westburg were all a part of the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Trials, with Allen and Foscue earning spots on the 24-man roster for the summer of competition.
State's history with USA Baseball began in 1984 with Will Clark earning a spot with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team and competing at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Allen and Foscue became the first MSU duo to compete on a USA Baseball team together, while Rooker marks the 12th Diamond Dawg overall to be selected to wear the red, white, and blue.
In his final season at MSU in 2017, Rooker became just the second player ever to win the SEC Triple Crown, tallying 23 home runs, 82 RBIs and a .387 batting average. His historic season earned him first-team All-SEC, consensus first-team All-America honors and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's National Player of the Year. Rooker also led MSU's 2016 SEC Championship team in home runs (11) and RBIs (54).
Rooker became the 14th Diamond Dawg to be picked in the first round of the MLB Draft as the Minnesota Twins selected him 35th overall in 2017. He earned his call up to the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings ahead of the 2019 season, where he hit .281, slugged at a .933 percentage and had 14 home runs in 65 games. The Germantown, Tennessee, native currently sits as the No. 8 prospect in the Twins organization.
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