The Colorado Rockies had thin center field depth until Charlie Blackmon prowled the position in recent years. He remains the WAR leader in the franchise’s history despite not playing an inning in center since 2018. Fans went many years without a productive regular since Ellis Burks handled center field duties in the 1990s. The position likely won’t have any significant contributors in 2021 despite a handful of young options available. However, there should be at least one player in the lowest levels of the minors to watch as the seasons progress.
Rockies Center Field Options
Major League Level
Sam Hilliard will be the main option manning the position to start 2021. The 6’5″ left-handed bat has an intriguing combination of power and speed, but he hasn’t put everything together to this point. He has a combined .236/. 308/.527 slash line with 13 home runs and 18 stolen bases in 201 plate appearances. The team has been content to not give him regular playing time, which is certainly a factor for the lackluster numbers. He might not leap out as a star, but he’s worth trying for a full season given his potential to hit home runs, steal bases, and play adequate defense.
His primary backup will likely be Yonathan Daza. The 27-year-old has one of the best gloves in the entire system, but looks only average as a major league hitter. He recorded 105 plate appearances in 2019, but hit .206/.257/.237 while striking out in 20% of the time. However, that’s less than a quarter of a season. It’s too small of a sample to truly project his future production. He is currently hitting .394/.382/.576 in 34 Spring Training appearances, so maybe the 2020 year of isolation produced some meaningful changes. Garrett Hampson may also appear for brief stretches as a platoon option, but he is also an infield option.
Triple-A & Double-A
The best upper-minors prospect is Jameson Hannah. The Rockies acquired the former second-round selection from the Cincinnati Reds as part of the Jeff Hoffman-Robert Stephenson trade. Hannah has a fairly low ceiling as a glove-first center fielder. He has hit .275/.340/.371 in 568 plate appearances, most of which came at High-A Stockton. He is hitting .385/.467/.615 in Spring Training, so perhaps he is another prospect who found some productive methods in 2020. Hannah will likely start the year in Double-A with an outside shot of debuting this year if he starts hot.
He might not make any impact in the majors, but Matt Hearn is slowly making his way up the organizational ladder. The 5’9″ hitter has accumulated over 1,000 plate appearances across three minor league seasons. Hearn has hit .297/.359/.358, but the plate discipline is definitely something positive to watch if he reaches Double-A or Triple-A in 2021. He also has 64 stolen bases, so he might fit the mold of an old-school lead-off hitter.
High-A & Lower-A
There are two main names to focus on in the lower levels of the system. They are 2020 draftee Zac Veen and Brenton Doyle from 2019. Veen is the team’s best prospect right now, and he has good grades for every tool. He is still just a teenager, but his potential is huge. Doyle comes from small Shepherd University in Division II. The 6’3″ hitter has one professional season since being drafted, but it featured a slash line of .383/.477/.611 with eight homers and 17 stolen bases in 215 plate appearances. He is poised to move through the system quickly starting this year.
Daniel Montano is one of the team’s deeper prospect options as a 2015 international signee. His last action came with Asheville in the A-level Southern League in 2019 where he hit .218/.274/.344. Those aren’t good numbers, but they came from a 20-year-old who was almost two full years younger than the average pitcher. He looks like another player with a speed-first profile with 17 stolen bases in his last pro season. He is worth watching despite a longer development timeline.
Overall Thoughts
It may take years and some pain, but the team might finally have a good everyday centerfielder after several seasons. Veen and Doyle are especially exciting since they represent two things. First, Veen demonstrates that Colorado is not shy about taking major high school talent after years of avoiding the demographic at the top of drafts. Second, Doyle looks like a possible draft steal from a smaller university.
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There is also an outside chance that some combination of Hillard, Daza and Hannah excels this year. Hilliard has power, speed and a glove, Daza is a great defensive option as a fourth outfielder, and Hannah could be realizing his potential with the change of scenery. Don’t expect a future Hall of Famer, but don’t be surprised if one turns into a productive regular either. Colorado’s outfield is huge and center field is notorious for being exhausting to play, but that just means studying and acquiring more options until one sticks.
Players Mentioned: Charlie Blackmon, Ellis Burks, Sam Hilliard, Yonathan Daza, Jameson Hannah, Matt Hearn, Daniel Montano, Zac Veen, Brenton Doyle, Garrett Hampson, Jeff Hoffman, Robert Stephenson
Main Photo: Embed from Getty Images
