DENVER – The plan has been for Jordan Beck to prove he deserves a prime role in the Rockies’ lineup. But amid a slow start, he has been on the bench as much as in the batting order.
On Monday, though, manager Warren Schaeffer put Beck in the leadoff spot against the Dodgers, and he responded with three hits and a sacrifice fly in Colorado’s 12-3 loss at Coors Field.
It was Beck’s second appearance in the four-game series, which saw the upstart Rockies split with the defending World Series champions. While Saturday and Sunday were victories in tight contests, the opener on Friday and Monday were lopsided losses.
Beck’s reset performance, however, could make Monday a happy occasion in the long run. Beck lifted his batting average from .122 to .178.
“I feel like I’ve had some balls I should have hit better, and I’ve had some stuff I probably shouldn’t have swung at, too,” Beck said. “Part of that is just baseball, and part of it is a lack of being productive.”
The plan was to counter Dodger lefty Justin Wrobleski with an eclectic, righty-dominated lineup. It started fine, with Beck doubling down the third-base line. Brenton Doyle -- who also has been in and out of the lineup, and lower in the order when in -- doubled Beck home.
“It felt like last year -- I led off for a couple of weeks and liked it, and led off in the Minors a little bit like that,” Beck said. “Just try to set the tone for the game.”
The goal is to be effective enough to be either in the middle or at the top of the lineup regardless of the handedness of the opposing pitcher. However, Beck is batting .069 against right-handers and .375 against lefties.
Monday’s strategy was undone quickly. Beck, Doyle and Hunter Goodman served as a logical top three, given how they produce when hot. Contact hitter Tyler Freeman was an avant garde cleanup man -- there to put a ball in play with runners on base.
But after Freeman played right field in the top of the first, he took ill in a “little bit of a scary situation,” per Schaeffer, and was replaced by lefty-swinging first baseman TJ Rumfield. The Dodgers dominated most of the game, although Rumfield towered his third homer of the year into the second deck in right field in the eighth against Edgardo Henriquez.
Beck, though, kept hitting, with singles in the fifth and seventh innings. He added a sacrifice fly in the ninth.
The hits were all off Wrobleski, and the sacrifice fly was against another lefty, Jake Eder.
“Quality at-bats all night from J.B.,” Schaeffer said. “Aggressive in the box … just stacking those at-bats together.”
Knowing he’ll be facing lefties until his stroke comes around, Beck has targeted pitchers he would face and practiced against the Trajekt Arc machine. He also stepped in on Sunday in a simulated game against righty Jeff Criswell, who soon should be pitching in the Minors after missing more than a year because of Tommy John right elbow surgery.
The 38th overall pick out of Tennessee in 2022, Beck started last season -- his first on an Opening Day roster -- slowly. The Rockies, under general manager Bill Schmidt and manager Bud Black, optioned him to Triple-A Albuquerque after nine games with a .150 batting average.
Beck returned to the Majors after 13 days, quickly filled an everyday role and had some torrid stretches. He finished with a .258/.317/.416 slash line and 16 home runs. Playing time is currently uneven as Schaeffer is trying to incentivize controlled at-bats and trimming strikeouts. But at least his playing time is in the Majors.
“I had enough success last year for them to trust me to ride through it,” Beck said. “People go through stretches, and hopefully we’re on the other side of that now.”