Schaghticoke County is an area in Upstate New York that has one of the most significant histories of settlement and agriculture in all of the United States. It is also the hometown of John Rooney, a 6’5 left-handed pitching prospect, who has a great history of his own.
Rooney was drafted by the Dodgers in the 3rd Round of the 2018 Draft and is a very unique person with a wide balance of talents and interests. He labels himself as a “ball thrower”, believes in something he calls “Flow State”, likes to remind people to listen to the All American Rejects, has a passion for music and playing the guitar, loves golf, and was a standout basketball player in High School. Add all of that to his dominance on the baseball diamond and the sum total equals a unique person with a history of success who has a future that promises to keep adding up.
Hoosic-Hofstra-History
Rooney attended Hoosic Valley High School in Schaghticoke, New York, and was a huge part of 3 State Championships in 2 different sports. He was the Class C Player of the Year in both baseball and basketball in 2014, All-Stated in both of those years, was the Class C Player of the Year again in 2015, and went undefeated as a pitcher in High School with an overall record of 35-0. Rooney was kind enough to join Dodger Poke, and, as he grinned, he spoke about his High School days.
I only threw a fastball in High School because they weren’t really hitting it so why throw anything else. I learned my other pitches in College because they started hitting my fastball. I absolutely love Basketball and it was fun for me in High School, and I’ve had a lot of support from my hometown so I appreciate all those people back home.
As a result of his amazingly successful High School career, Rooney had offers from several D1 schools in the Northeastern part of the United States upon Graduation. While playing in a Men’s league in Long Island, Rooney was seen by the coaches at Hofstra while they were in New York fundraising. He was offered a visit, then the very next week committed and went on to have an amazing Collegiate career.
I wouldn’t trade going to Hofstra for the world because of the people I met there and the teammates I still keep in contact with. I really had no idea how to go about the recruiting process when I was in High School. I figured if I’m good they’ll find me and that I just needed to keep performing and someone was bound to reach out. That wasn’t really the case but I had a lot of the local D1 schools that reached out. I was throwing in a Men’s league and just happened to be in Long Island and Hofstra was doing some fundraising and just happened to see me and invited me for a visit and the next week I signed with them. I’m so happy with what I did with Hofstra and I wouldn’t replace it.
In 2018, Rooney earned 2nd Team All American honors, was the Colonial Athletic Association Pitcher of the Year, a Golden Spikes Semifinalist for Pitcher of the Year, and was also the Eastern College Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year as well. Also in 2018, he set the program’s record for strikeouts with 108, threw a program record of 95 innings, and threw at least 6 innings in all of his starts.
At 6’5, and being so accomplished, it’s easy to see why the Dodgers selected Rooney in the 3rd Round of the 2018 Draft, and why his future is so bright. Despite being low-key, draft day was a day that he will never forget.
Yeah, it was low key day. Obviously there was some stress and some excitement in the situation having really no idea what’s going to happen.
With another John Rooney smile, he continued to describe what draft day was like
Looking back on it now, I kinda wish I would have had a party, but it was beautiful how many people came by the house randomly and congratulated me so it was great.
Flow State
Baseball is an everyday grind that requires great mental and physical endurance. Players wake up, day after day, and rarely if ever, do so with a totally clean bill of health. As the Dog Days of Summer hit, they become exhausted, their bodies hurt, the weather is unpredictable, and everything they do is analyzed, quite possibly over-analyzed, and evaluated to an extent that can become overwhelming. The game presents a great deal of difficulty, many times failure, and the amount of information that is available seemingly has no limit. During that process, it’s imperative that players have outlets away from the game that help them handle the daily grind of baseball. Rooney feels very fortunate to have parents that allowed him to explore all the things he’s grown to enjoy.
I was so lucky as a kid to have had parents that told me that they supported me no matter what I did. I was always interested in doing things like playing the guitar. My dad took me to lessons for 3 or 4 years and I ended up being in a band with my brother and some hometown kids so that was really fun. I still play and I record music and I love doing that and that definitely takes the edge off on nights after ballgames or before I pitch I can play some music and get into some sort of state where I’m not thinking about it.
With another huge smile, well actually more of a laugh Rooney added:
I love golfing, I love taking my friends money on the course and it’s competitive. It’s good to have that outlet too.
It can become easy to get lost in the oceans of analytics available, so each player has to figure out how it works best for them. Rooney uses a technique called “Flow State” which is a state of mind in which he can block everything out, create a tunnel of focus on the job at hand, and can become completely immersed in the moment. Rooney started using the process in college and enters into the “Flow State” by visualizing his best performances and using cues within his environment that allow his mind to enter into this “State”, which, in turn, puts his body in the best possible “State” to perform.
Yeah, it’s something I got into naturally at Hofstra like when I had the really good year in 2018 and things just clicked for me. It was that flow state of just having complete body and mind synchronization where your mind tells your body to do something and it just does it. Every game, pitch after pitch I just hit the euphoric state where everything happened every Friday Night for me. I think sometimes when you’re trying to improve your velo you get a little tense trying to throw hard, but that’s not the way you should try and approach it. I mean, if you’re training the way you have to be training it’s going to happen naturally. If you can kind of sit back and put some headphones in and close your eyes, listen to some music, something soft, something that takes you out of it for a little bit before you get on the mound that really helps. Breathing is a beautiful thing!
True to Yourself
The Dodgers have one of the deepest and most talented player development systems in all of baseball. As players grow through the ranks they’re given the greatest instruction, the best information, and the analytics they have access to are seemingly limitless. As they continue to add to their game, one of the battles they fight is whether they should take their new additions to their game and completely redefine who they are, or should they stay true to what they have always been and just add to that base. Finding a balance that works for them is the key for every young prospect.
The game has become so analytical now and it’s a game of velocity, so pitching has changed. Obviously you have to keep hitting your spots because, as you know, professionals can hit 100 mph if it’s down the middle and they know it’s coming. A lot of my added velocity has come from the plyo work I’ve done and my training. There’s a difference between exercise and training because when you’re training you’re sore. That’s the one thing I switched gears from 2018 and 2019 to the 2021 season is that you have to train, not just exercise. You have to push yourself plus 1% everyday and that’s what’s gotten me over the top, not just working out, but throwing because throwing is what I do every day.
Feature Cut
Rooney has increased his velocity on his fastball and has hit as high as 96 MPH. He can locate it to all parts of the zone and uses it to set up his off-speed pitches. But, one of his strengths, in my opinion, is that he can pitch backwards and use his off-speed to set up his fastball. The hitter in this video is B.J. Boyd who is a very accomplished professional hitter and was completely frozen by this 93 mph fastball.
Boyd was frozen by that fastball because it had been set up, but another big factor is the way Rooney hides the ball. In the following sequence, notice how far behind his back Rooney starts the ball, and then notice how, just before he releases the ball, it is hidden behind his head. This deception makes it hard for the hitter to pick the ball up and adds to the effectiveness of his arsenal.
Rooney’s slider has a lot of sweeping action. As you’ll see in the video, he can use it as a “get me over” strike pitch to get ahead in the count, he can throw it as a backdoor and a backfoot pitch to right-handers or use it to freeze left-handers. When he throws it to the backfoot of Right Handers, it is an absolute wipeout elite pitch as you’ll see in the video.
Rooney also has a very good changeup that he can use as a strike pitch or a strikeout pitch. His Changeup gives him a pitch that offers more vertical drop to play off of his fastball and sweeping breaking ball.
Another aspect of Rooney’s game is that he allows himself to maximize his pitches by having a fairly high leg-kick. He can have a fairly high leg kick because he has an elite pickoff move to first.
“Flowing” On
Rooney has a lifetime ERA in the Minor Leagues of 2.93 and has struck out 152 hitters in 153.1 innings, so his stuff is explosive and is continuing to get even more explosive as he continues to grow. He missed most of 2021 with a Lat injury but feels as if he showed what he was capable of before the injury. He is simply chomping at the bit to get back to the mound and continue his upwards trajectory and momentum that his progress in the organization has created. Rooney is big, he is smart, he is highly motivated, and he understands how to pitch within himself. He has learned how to maximize his ability through a process he calls “Flow State” and is looking forward to a constant stream of success as a Dodger.
