Rockies Report Card: Young stars shine early in spring training
Colorado’s top prospects are making a statement in the Cactus League, fueling optimism for the 2025 season.
The Colorado Rockies are finding success just 13 games into Spring Training. They hold the second-best record in the Cactus League, and a handful of young ballplayers are putting up promising numbers.
General manager Bud Black has been feeding at-bats to upcoming guys like Jordan Beck, Adael Amador and Zac Veen. All three have provided solid upside, further enforcing the organizations' goal this spring and season, to infuse youth.
Beck, a 23-year-old slugger, has seen the plate the most and put together a .777 on base plus slugging percentage (OPS) with six hits, including a slam. Micheal Toglia has emerged as one of the most exciting players to follow this season, projected to hit the most home runs of any Rockie with 26. He has a 1.014 OPS this spring, with a .300 batting average and .650 slugging percentage.
Veen has been one of two Rockies that have gone viral as of late, after he smoked a 400-foot home run off Arizona’s Billy Corcoran and apologetically launched a bat flip toward the mound. He has a .300 average and .883 OPS.
The second is Dominican lefty Jefry Yan. On the mound, he hasn’t given up a run in three innings and has collected four strikeouts, where he unleashes his signature punch out celebration by jumping into the air and pumping his fist.
Although Colorado is on the cusp of three 100-loss seasons in a row, these small viral moments are good for rebuilding teams. Any advertising is good advertising, and to show off the future of the team like this is positive for the business side of the organization.
Speaking of the future of the franchise, the Rockies are unthawing a hopeful future ace in Chase Dollander. He has the most innings of the rotation this Spring and is expected to make his major league debut this season. Although he’s gotten touched up during his two appearances, last year in the minor leagues, Dollander tossed a 2.59 earned run average (ERA) across 118 innings.
The Rockies currently sit at 9-3-1 which is the second-best record in the Cactus League. The offense has seen high production days, with 14 runs against the Chicago White Sox and 12 against the D-Backs. Although this has little correlation to how they’ll perform on Opening Day, anticipated value and flashy young prospects is all Rockies fans can ask for in 2025.