Jordan Beck: Up-And-Coming Dynasty Player

While major league players are headed into their All-Star break and have the chance to take a breath and relax, you, me, and all the other dynasty baseball enthusiasts have no time to take a breath. The hunt for the next up-and-coming dynasty player never stops!

Last week I ventured west and landed in Colorado. While the Rockies are horrible this season, the team does feature some good, young talent. Colorado catcher Hunter Goodman is one of those players, and I talked about him last week.

Another up-and-coming dynasty player is  Jordan Beck. The former MLB Pipeline top 100 prospect is having a breakout season for Colorado.

With half the season gone, now is a good time to zoom in on Beck.

Career Statistics

Road to the Show

Jordan Beck did a lot of things well when he attended the University of Tennessee. But what caught scouts’ eyes was his power. His 2020 season was cut short due to Covid, but over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, he hit 33 home runs in 133 games and drove in 125 runs while slugging .523 in 2021 and .595 in 2022.

A first-round talent in the draft, there were concerns about his hit tool. Beck finished his career at Tennessee with a 21% strikeout rate, which isn’t horrible, but at the college level, it is somewhat high considering his talent. The concerns about how good of a hitter he was going to be in the pros allowed the Rockies to select him in the Competitive Balance Round A.

The selection has turned out to be a good one for Colorado.

In parts of four seasons in the minors, Beck has shown off his power by hitting 37 homers and driving in 148 runs in 202 games. His career slash line down on the farm is a respectable .278/.372/.499. And the fears of him possibly being overmatched by professional pitchers haven’t materialized as he had a 24% strikeout rate in the minors – a number plenty of teams can live with.

The Tools

• Hitting

Jordan Beck is certainly not a finished product, and his biggest weakness at this point is his hit tool. To back that point up, look at the above chart, and you will see where Beck is struggling.

But there is a bright side to Beck’s numbers above – they are much improved compared to his 55-game stint with the Rockies last season. One of the better improvements is his strikeout rate dropping from 35% to 27% this season. The reduction in his strikeout rate can be traced to better control of the strike zone and hitting the pitches that are in the zone.

Last year, he had a 33.5% chase rate, like when he chased this pitch or this pitch against Miami. So far this season, he is doing a much better job of laying off those pitches. Through Thursday, his chase rate stands at 28.7%, which is basically right at the major league average. Even more impressive has been his zone contact percentage, increasing from 73.4% to 77.1%. That is still five points below the MLB average, but it is a nice improvement to see. His Whiff% has decreased, as has his 1st Pitch Swing%, which has dropped from 39% to 27% this year.

With Beck being more selective at the plate, he has seen better pitches to hit, and that has allowed him to improve his batting average. This is the type of steps you want to see in young hitters.

• Power

The hit chart above points out the obvious – the right-handed hitting Beck is going to hit most of his homers to the pull side. Eight of the 10 homers he has hit this season, like this one and this one, have gone to left field. And Beck could easily have more homers. When you look at his expected adjusted home runs by park, he could have up to seven more home runs this season if he played all his games in Sacramento or even six more if he played all the time in Minnesota, Atlanta, or Philadelphia.

After a rough debut in 2024, Beck has found his power at the plate this season thanks to some improvements in key areas. His exit velocity is up an average of 2.3 mph while his launch angle has increased by 1.2 degrees, and his launch angle sweet spot percentage has increased by 4.6 percent. His Barrel% has increased by five percent, and his Hard Hit% is up by 8.8 percent.

More balls in the air that are also hit harder tend to lead to more home runs.

Jordan Beck may have some swing-and-miss in his game, but he has considerable raw power and is figuring out how to translate that into actual games. Right now, he is on pace for a 20-homer season. I expect that as he learns the game more and refines his approach even more, he should become a 25-homer season and possibly knock on the door of 30 homers if he reduces the swing-and-miss to at least the MLB average.

• Speed

What makes Beck an intriguing player is not only does he hit for power, but he can also steal a base. His sprint speed of 28.7 mph ranks in the 85th percentile, and it has helped him swipe 10 bases this year after stealing seven last year. However, he can still improve in this area as he has been thrown out five times this season and six times overall in his brief career.

But the fact that he has the ability to steal bases makes him a valuable target. The only drawback is if Beck fills out his 6-3 frame and loses some of his speed.

The Verdict

Simply put, there is a lot to like about Jordan Beck. While he still has plenty of room to improve, he came out of Tennessee as an advanced prospect and shot through the Rockies system. Yes, that is not that hard to do right now, but it still takes talent to do that.

After struggling last year in his 55-game stint, Beck has made a lot of adjustments this season at the plate, and so far, he has been remarkably consistent from month to month.

In March/April, he slashed .268/.354/.607 with five homers, 10 RBI, and four steals. In May, the slash line was .252/.301/.435 with three home runs, six RBI, and three steals. This June, he slashed .265/.321/.408 with two home runs, 12 RBI, and two steals. The drop in his SLG is a little disconcerting, but while the home runs have dropped a bit, he did hit six doubles and three triples in May and added eight more doubles in June. Through his first 82 games this season, he has 32 extra base hits. I’ll take that.

Defensively, Beck is versatile in the outfield. So in leagues that break down the position into LF, CF, and RF, he is eligible as both a left and right fielder this year, but he will likely be a left fielder only next season as in the 75 games he has appeared in the field, all have come as a left fielder.

Thanks to the Rockies being so bad, the majority of fantasy owners are overlooking Beck. In Yahoo, he is rostered on only 16 percent of teams. Meanwhile, he is even more available in ESPN leagues as he is only 6% rostered. As far as trading for him, an astute owner may try to sell high, but he has not garnered enough attention to drive up the casual owner’s desire to likely keep him if some decent prospects or a veteran is offered.

Thanks for reading, and come back again next week.