How much should Spring Training performance be taken at face value?

This question hangs heavy over every camp in Arizona and Florida during Spring Training. In most cases, the statistics should be taken with a grain of salt as each player has a different motivation and process when it comes to playing in the exhibition games. Still, everything is still put under a microscope, especially for players that are battling for roster spot, starting role, or just to prove to a team they can be a contributor.

For the Colorado Rockies, youth has been the overlying theme for camp. After back-to-back 100-loss seasons and six-straight losing seasons, the Rockies are taking the opportunity to sift through their prospects and younger players to figure out who will be the key components of a rebound in the near future. One of the main open spots for the team entering 2025 is right field. Brenton Doyle has center field locked down, and the team is hoping for a resurgent Nolan Jones in left field, leaving the final corner outfield spot up for grabs among multiple players in Spring Training.

The player with the perceived inside track is 23-year-old Jordan Beck.

Drafted 38th overall out of Tennessee in 2022, Beck breezed through the minors. He started the 2024 season in Triple-A Albuquerque, where he scorched the ball to the tune of a .319 AVG with eight home runs and 35 RBI in 39 games. Looking for some offensive potency, the Rockies hoped that Beck could be a young spark plug with the team and hit the ground running when they called him early in the season. Unfortunately, he faced obvious growing pains as he batted just .190/.198/.316 with two home runs and 30 strikeouts against one walk in his first 23 games before suffering a broken hand that cost him three months and left lingering wrist pain when he returned late in the season. Upon his return, Beck struggled with timing along with the pain and ended the season batting .188/.245/.276 with three home runs, 65 strikeouts, and 12 walks.

With an eye on the prize and a chance to secure his spot as the starting right fielder, Beck struggled out of the game in Cactus League action. Through his first six games, he went 1-for-14 with five strikeouts and two walks. The balls he did put in ball where harmless line drives directly at fielders. However, over his last couple of games, Beck has started to break out of the slump and find some much-needed rhythm in camp.

On March 1, against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Beck collected a pair of hits to start busting the slump. During a March 3 contest against the Los Angeles Angels, Beck went 3-for-4 with a double and a home run. His looping double for his first hit wasn’t exactly scorched off the bat, but a hit is a hit if you ask Beck.

“They say that it evens out,” Beck said to MLB.com’s Thomas Harding. “I don’t know if hard-hit balls equal soft ones, or whatever that translation seems to be. But I’ll keep swinging it.”

Over the next few weeks of camp, the Rockies are certainly hoping that Beck can continue to have productive games like the one he had on Tuesday. In 2024, the Rockies outfield ranked third-worst in baseball with a -0.2 fWAR. Take away Brenton Doyle’s production, and the numbers get worse for the position overall. Beck has received high praise from the Rockies’ special assistant and Hall of Famer Todd Helton.

After sitting in as a commentator for the broadcast of the Rockies’ home victory over the Padres on August 16 last season, Helton heaped praise on Becks, offering a shoutout to “my man, Beck, because he’s from the University of Tennessee — he showed out and got three hits.”

Hitting coach Hensley Meulans said last season, “When the numbers were low, it didn’t lower his confidence,” Meulens said. “He’s a quality person, and that comes out. A lot of times a quality person can go through struggles and go about things the same way.”

The potential of his power that he showed in college and during his first professional season in the minors in 2023, where he hit 25 home runs across two levels, is certainly tantalizing for the Rockies’ top brass. It’s the kind of offensive potential that can help lengthen a power-starved lineup that has lacked a true impact bat over the last few seasons. However, the abundance of strikeouts during his big league stint is an area that Beck will have to continue to improve on if he hopes to be that offensive threat for the Rockies.

While the offensive potential at the plate is a key part of Beck’s profile its the other aspects of his game that make him valuable.

“The complete player is interesting to us,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “He’s a good defender, can run, has power and we think he can hit for average. The skill set is there. He’s projectable to get better. We like the makeup, the work ethic, the confidence, the poise – the ingredients of a good player.”

Beck’s defensive versatility in the outfield gives the Rockies options at all three spots. While he is more likely to play in the corner outfield positions, he can slot into center field as needed to give Doyle a day off as needed, but projections say he would spend the majority of his time in right field.

The Rockies have plenty of options vying for an outfield spot in camp alongside Beck. Sean Bouchard, 28, is looking to rebound after injury setbacks the last few seasons, and while he doesn’t bring the same defensive tools in the outfield, his on-base skills at the plate have made him an intriguing player. However, he and veteran Sam Hilliard are better served as bench pieces rather than everyday starters. Nick Martini joined the Rockies in camp as a non-roster invitee, but again, he would be a bench player if he earned a spot. Additionally, there are a number of prospects waiting in the wings, such as Zac Veen and Yanquiel Fernandez.

The Rockies are also toying with the idea of placing oft-injured Kris Bryant in the outfield, specifically on the road, which could cut into Beck’s playing time in some way, shape, or form, but if that were the case he could find himself serving as the designated hitter if he’s got his offense rolling.

The fact of the matter is that the last couple of games are a sign that Beck is settling in and is primed for a breakout year with the Rockies after 2024 became a learning experience for him. Beck’s meteoric rise happened for a reason, and the Rockies need Mike Honcho to rise to the occasion to make right field his own.