Friday, March 13

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Rockies outfielder Jordan Beck has learned that easy batting practice early in Spring Training has its place, but making matters more difficult now can help him become the run producer that he is confident he can become.

For part of his training, Beck dials up the Trajekt Arc machine to virtually face the pitchers he’ll see most -- from the Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants and Padres in the National League West.

“We have guys in this division that we see four times a year, so I try to lock in on those guys,” said Beck, who spends much of his practice hitting softer composition baseballs, flung from a machine at unrealistic velocities and spin paths. “I’m sure we’ll start switching over to some teams not in the division so it’s not the first time we lay eyes on them when we get into the batter’s box.”

The season isn’t for a couple of weeks. Cactus League games can get monotonous. But Beck, 24, is being creative in preparing for the real season, for good reason. The Rockies selected Beck in 2022 out of the University of Tennessee to produce runs. There were flashes last year, when he slashed .258/.317/.416 with 16 home runs and 53 RBIs in 148 games. But he and the Rockies have loftier aspirations.

Listed at 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds, Beck has the knack for catching fire that past Rockies-developed sluggers displayed. However, because of a meteoric rise through the Minors, Beck has had to do more developing at the Major League level than those who reached stardom in Purple Pinstripes in the past.

Here is a sampling of players who hit in the middle of the Rockies’ lineup over the years, All-Stars all, with the their number of Minor League games before debuting in the Majors:

• Todd Helton: 267

• Matt Holliday: 619

• Charlie Blackmon: 345

• Nolan Arenado: 432

• Trevor Story: 537

• Ryan McMahon: 558

On the current squad, 2025 All-Star catcher Hunter Goodman had 263 games before his debut, and shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, who appears to have an All-Star future, had 283.

Beck made his debut after 177 games of development.

But everyone’s rise is different. 

Holliday, Arenado, Story and McMahon signed out of high school, so their paths took longer. Tovar’s game total was low, but he also lost the Minor League season of 2020 because of the pandemic. Helton rose to stardom almost immediately, with 97 RBIs in 1998 -- the first full season of his Hall of Fame career. Like Beck, Blackmon lost time to injury during his 2011 debut and didn’t play in as many as 100 games until 2014.

Beck, who arrived at a time of little depth on the Major League roster, must learn on the go.

Concentrating on the NL West is building upon a strength, according to last year’s slash lines:

• Beck against the NL West: .269/.309/.446, 8 HRs in 242 at-bats

• Beck vs. everyone else: .227/.295/.349, 11 HRs in 467 at-bats

Coming into the season as a clear starter in either corner depending on matchups and defensive strategy -- rather than competing for starts or even a roster spot, as the previous two years -- has allowed him to be more scientific.

“This camp is similar in the ‘compete’ aspect, but I have a little more time,” he said. “I can go into the cage. If something doesn’t feel right, I can work on it. I can control the chaos. It makes it easier to prepare for the season.”

Expect Beck to keep seeking better methodologies. 

“He’s one of the most curious guys -- he asks a ton of questions,” said hitting coach Brett Pill, who added that Beck came to the plan to work against the NL West first on his own. “It’s been pretty fun to just be around and work with him. He’s always talking hitting … ‘What kind of approach should I have about this pitcher?’

“And the last two or three weeks, he’s been dialing [experimentation] back and working on what got him here, the things that he does well. He takes what you say and makes them his own, and it’s always nice to be around a player like that.”

A five-hit game on July 1 set the tone for a .314/.359/.442 month. The fact he finished that month with eight RBIs had more to do with the offensive struggles of a 43-119 club, but consistency in RBIs situations.

“We want to see progress in pretty much the entire gameplay from ‘JB' -- adjustability at the plate,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “He’s progressing in all these things. There are going to be highs and lows in Spring Training for everybody. It’s a matter of the process.

“It’s the work behind closed doors that you don’t see. That has been really good.”

Non-roster righty John Brebbia, 35, turned pro in 2011 after being drafted by the Yankees in the 30th round. This is his eighth Major League camp, and he has appeared in MLB seasons with five teams. If you think he’s past the stress of making a team, think again.

In four Cactus League games, Brebbia has a 0.00 ERA and a .063 batting average against. But with the Rockies stocked with young, hard-throwing relievers, he’s guaranteed nothing. Even on the non-roster side, lefty breaking ball specialist Parker Mushinski has been outstanding since a tough first outing.

Brebbia doesn’t pretend to be cool about it.

“I’m never relaxed, anyway,” Brebbia said. “I’ll wake up sometimes in the offseason -- Nov. 5 -- being, like, ‘I’m gonna lose my job. … Wait … There are no jobs. It’s November.

“It’s a hard thing to do. There’s a lot of stress that goes into it. And when you do something that’s difficult, it makes you feel that much better. It’s this balance of getting all thaty pressure stacked onto you, backing you into a corner, and then seeing if you can get out of it. It gives you that sensation. Like … wow.”

The reasons behind the stress are shown on two lines of his player bio. He spent 2014 with the Sioux Falls Canaries and 2015 with the Laredo Lemurs, both of the independent American Association.

As a reminder of the uncertain future of pitching for teams not affiliated with the Majors, Brebbia will dry-shave his face on Opening Day, then not touch a razor for the rest of the season.

“When I was in independent ball, a bunch of guys on the team would do it and I thought, ‘Yeah, why not?’” he said. “Now it serves as a reminder of what it used to be -- the stadiums I used to play in, and the fans, and when I did get fired and didn’t have a job for a while.’ If I wake up and give up 15 runs in an outing, I still get to wake up the next day.”

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