Amateur career

Root attended Fort Myers High School in Fort Myers, Florida. As a senior in 2022, he went 6-2 with a 1.50 ERA alongside hitting .346.^[1] He participated in the 2022 MLB Draft Combine, but went unselected in the 2022 Major League Baseball draft.^[2] He enrolled at East Carolina University to play college baseball.

As a freshman at East Carolina in 2023, Root appeared in twenty games (making 13 starts) in which he went 3-3 with a 5.53 ERA over 53+2⁄3 innings.^[3] That summer, he played in the Valley Baseball League for the Charlottesville Tom Sox.^[4] As a sophomore in 2024, Root started 12 games and pitched to a 6-2 record, a 3.56 ERA, and 76 strikeouts over 68+1⁄3 innings.^[5] After the season, he transferred to the University of Arkansas to play for the Razorbacks.^[6] Root made 19 starts for Arkansas in 2025 and went 9-6 with a 3.62 ERA and 126 strikeouts over 99+1⁄3 innings.^[7]

Los Angeles Dodgers

Root was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers with the 40th overall pick in the 2025 Major League Baseball draft.^[8] Root signed with the Dodgers on July 24, 2025, for a $2.2 million signing bonus.^[9] The Dodgers assigned him to the Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest League to make his professional debut in 2026.^[10]