OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Oakland Athletics outfielder Brent Rooker underwent surgery on his right forearm after being bothered by an elbow issue that limited him to playing primarily designated hitter this season.
Rooker's arthoscopic procedure was performed Tuesday by Dr. Michael Freehill to repair an extensor tendon that was partially torn, according to general manager David Forst.
“Easy cleanup and should be 100% by spring training,” Forst said.
The 29-year-old Rooker had a career-high 39 home runs and 112 RBIs while batting .365 over 145 games — 131 of those as DH. Manager Mark Kotsay hopes once healthy Rooker might be a regular outfield option again.
He was in the training room almost daily to feel well enough to play.
“Rook, he surpassed expectations in 2023 and sort of announced his presence as a legitimate middle-of-the-order bat and then took it a step further this year where he should have been a back-to-back All-Star," Forst said in video call Friday. “He was the guy we wanted up in every situation. He was the guy Mark counted on. He was not 100% healthy all year. I don’t know how many people even really noticed, but he didn’t play the outfield after the second half of the season.”
Forst added: “I’m not a doctor, I just play one on TV. But it strikes me as very impressive that he was able to battle through what he did and put up the offensive season that he had.”
Building a stronger offensive team will be a top priority as the club relocates to Sacramento for what's expected to be the next three years before the hope of playing in a new ballpark in Las Vegas for the 2028 campaign.
After consecutive 100-loss seasons, the A's finished 69-93 in Kotsay's third season and the final year at the Oakland Coliseum.
“Our biggest thing as we talk about lengthening the lineup, if we can do that with utilizing the DH position to add another bat and Rook can go out and play the outfield, that’s going to make us better,” Kotsay said. "We’re always looking to maximize our roster, and with Rook being able to play the outfield, it’s definitely going to help us do that.”
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Oakland Athletics' Brent Rooker advances to third base on a single by JJ Bleday during the first inning of a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)
Oakland Athletics designated hitter Brent Rooker walks to the dugout after striking out against the Seattle Mariners during the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Oakland Athletics' Brent Rooker (25) is greeted by Max Schuemann (12) after both scored on Rooker's two-run home run on a pitch from Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Emerson Hancock during the fifth inning in a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)
Oakland Athletics' Brent Rooker hits a two-run home run on a pitch from Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Emerson Hancock during the fifth inning in a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court left in place Friday two Biden administration environmental regulations aimed at reducing industry emissions of planet-warming methane and toxic mercury.
The justices did not detail their reasoning in the orders, which came after a flurry of emergency applications to block the rules from industry groups and Republican-leaning states. There were no noted dissents.
The high court is still considering challenges to a third Environmental Protection Agency rule aimed at curbing planet-warming pollution from coal-fired power plants.
The regulations are part of a broader effort by the Biden administration aimed at curbing climate change that includes financial incentives to buy electric vehicles and upgrade infrastructure, and rules tightening tailpipe pollution standards for cars and trucks.
The industry groups and states had argued the EPA overstepped its authority and set unattainable standards with the new regulations. The EPA, though, said the rules are squarely within its legal responsibilities and would protect the public.
An EPA spokesperson said Friday the agency is pleased that the Supreme Court denied applications to stay the final methane and mercury rules. EPA believes the rule tightening methane emissions from oil and gas drilling will deliver major climate and health benefits for all Americans, while the mercury rule will limit hazardous pollution from coal-fired power plants, spokesperson Remmington Belford said.
The methane rule will build on innovative technologies and solutions that many oil- and gas-producing states and companies are already using or have committed to use, while the mercury and air toxics rule “will ensure that the nation’s coal-fired power plants meet up-to-date standards for hazardous air pollutants," Belford said.
Both rules are firmly grounded in the EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act, he said.
The Supreme Court has shot down other environmental regulations in recent years, including a landmark decision that limited the EPA’s authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants in 2022, and another that halted the agency’s air-pollution-fighting “good neighbor” rule.
The methane rule puts new requirements on the oil and gas industry, which is the largest emitter of the gas that’s a key contributor to climate change. A lower court previously refused to halt the regulation.
Methane is the main component in natural gas and is far more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term. Sharp cuts in methane emissions are a global priority — including the United States — to slow the rate of climate change.
The methane rule targets emissions from existing oil and gas wells nationwide, rather than focusing only on new wells. It also regulates smaller wells that will be required to find and plug methane leaks.
Studies have found that smaller wells produce just 6% of the nation’s oil and gas but account for up to half the methane emissions from well sites. The plan also calls for a phased-in requirement for energy companies to eliminate routine flaring, or burning of natural gas that is produced by new oil wells.
The states challenging the rule called the new standards “impossible to meet” and said they amounted to an “attack” on the industry.
The mercury rule, meanwhile, came after a reversal of a move by the Trump administration. It updated regulations that were more than a decade old for emissions of mercury and other harmful pollutants that can affect the nervous system, kidneys and fetal development.
Industry groups and conservative-leaning states argued emissions were already low enough, and the new standards could force the shuttering coal-fired power plants.
The EPA said the updates are needed to protect public health.
David Doniger, senior attorney at Natural Resources Defense Council, called the two rules critical safeguards and applauded the court order leaving them in place. He also looked ahead to the still-undecided challenges to the power plant rule.
“The court should do the same with the effort to block EPA’s power plant carbon pollution standards, which comply with the very directions the court gave it in 2022,” Doniger said.
FILE - An array of pumpjacks operate near the site of a new oil and gas well being drilled April 8, 2022 in Midland, Texas. (Eli Hartman/Odessa American via AP, File)
FILE - The Supreme Court building is seen, June 28, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
