Vols in MLB Update

#2,291
#2,291

Vols in the Minors: Spring Breakout, countdown to Opening Day​


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Opening Day for the 2025 MLB season falls on Thursday, March 27. Fans around the world are counting down the days until they can watch their favorite team play in games that count again. However, before Opening Day rolls around, spring training must be finished out.

Last week, some of your favorite Vols got the chance to play in the second annual Spring Breakout series and show off their talents against other top prospects.

Meanwhile, Opening Day rosters are funneling out with a look at where some former Vols will start their season.


Jordan Beck makes the cut

While Jordan Beck’s overall numbers this spring were not all that impressive, he really stepped up in the later games this spring. Beck hit four home runs during the spring and showcased a little more of his power, which will only play up when the team moves north to Coors Field in Colorado.

Beck’s biggest issues are his walk and strikeout rates. This spring, Beck struck out 35.3% of the time and walked just 8.8% of the time. These numbers are very similar to last season when he got called up to the majors. Fortunately, as previously mentioned, Beck’s power has jumped dramatically, as his isolated power metric went from a .088 to a .210. While it's still not super impressive on its own, it is a dramatic jump.

Beck’s walk and strikeout rates are likely a product of a high swing rate and a high chase rate. If he can be a bit more patient in the box, he may see much better results, at least in terms of on-base percentage.

Since Beck played a significant amount of games for the Colorado Rockies last year, he was not considered a prospect and did not participate in the Spring Breakout. However, he did make the Opening Day roster and is expected to get some good reps in left field this year.


Chase Dollander to start in AAA

Chase Dollander finished out the spring with an ERA of 7.12. While that number is pretty off-putting for most, the Rockies believe there is a spot in their bullpen for him, at least to start his career.

Dollander was able to be relatively effective at leaving runners on base and getting strikeouts. The problem was that many of those baserunners were ones that Dollander gave up. His WHIP was 1.53 with another issue being a relatively high walk rate at 5.09%.

Dollander was selected to the Rockies’ Spring Breakout roster but didn’t get the chance to pitch at all. This was likely because he pitched so much during the rest of the spring, having thrown 17.2 innings in six games.

Christian Moore misses the mark

Although Christian Moore has been dominating every level of the minor leagues since he got drafted, Major League pitching has posed a serious challenge for Moore. Over the course of the spring, Moore struck out 31.4% of the time and batted just .227 with an OPS of .629.

There is some good news about Moore’s spring performance though as his batting average on balls in play was 130 points higher at .357. Since Moore hit no home runs during the spring, it means that making an adjustment and cutting down on strikeouts will allow his numbers to inflate a lot even at the Major League level.

While Moore’s strikeout percentage may have caused him to miss the Opening Day roster for the Los Angeles Angels, it may not be long before he gets the Major League call-up.
 
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