Breaking down the Rockies’ crowded outfield heading into 2026 spring training

In a crowded Colorado outfield, spring training will be a proving grounds.

The Rockies are carrying nine outfielders on their 40-man roster heading into the preseason at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, where a few guys have an inside edge to jobs but will be pushed by the robust number of players at the position.

Center fielder Brenton Doyle is the unit’s headliner, while Jordan Beck and Mickey Moniak are also returning starters who saw the most action in the corner outfield last year. Colorado also added the speedy Jake McCarthy, who can play all three positions and backup Doyle in centerfield, via trade with Arizona.

Plus, the 40-man roster features some utility players in Tyler Freeman and Willi Castro (both can play infield) and Troy Johnston (primarily a first baseman who also could play the corners), as well as prospects Zac Veen (debuted last season but spent most of the summer in Triple-A) and Sterlin Thompson (yet to debut).

Count Doyle as a proponent of the Rockies’ outfield options as Colorado looks for ways to show progress following a disastrous 119-loss season in 2025.

“The competition aspect of having that many outfielders on the roster right now is great,” Doyle said. “It’s going to bring out a better version of all of us, knowing that we have to compete every single day to earn a job. Nothing’s given, and that’s the way it needs to be.”

Here’s the breakdown of the Rockies outfield as spring training opens and Cactus League games start on Feb 20. The Denver Post projects that at least one of the nine outfielders currently on the 40-man roster won’t be with the club when the regular season begins, and barring an injury, the Rockies will carry Doyle, Beck, Moniak, McCarthy, Freeman and Castro on the Opening Day roster.

Brenton Doyle

Following consecutive Gold Glove Awards in 2023 and ’24, Doyle’s defense was down in ’25, at least by advanced metrics. He had 14 outs above average in both of his Gold Glove seasons, but that number dropped to six in ’25. His bat was also inconsistent, especially compared to his breakout ’24 season in which he hit .260 with a .764 OPS and 24 homers.

Doyle, under club control through 2029, was the subject of trade rumors throughout the offseason. If he plays well in ’26, he could be a player that the Rockies flip to a contender at the deadline, possibly for more pitching.

But for now, Doyle said he’s looking for more offensive consistency and that he expects another elite season in center field.

“The back of the baseball card numbers, of course, I want to improve from last year,” Doyle said. “… (As a team), we need to bounce back and create more of a winning culture in the clubhouse.”

Former Rockies outfielder and TV analyst Ryan Spilborghs says that despite Doyle’s defensive drop-off in 2025, Doyle is “the best defensive center fielder I’ve ever seen at Coors Field, hands down, bar none. It’s not even close. It’s Brenton Doyle, and then it’s a tier below him.”

That being said, in his age 28 season, Spilborghs says Doyle is past his defensive peak.

“The next big decision (the Rockies) have is with Brenton Doyle in center field, just considering the wear-and-tear on your body in center,” Spilborghs said. “He’s not going to be elite for a 10-year run. We have that historical data that shows you’re only really an elite Rockies center fielder for about five years at the most, just because of the wear-and-tear. And then you move to a corner, which I think he’s capable of doing if he’s still hitting at a high level. ”

Doyle believes he can still be a Gold Glove contender, and vows not to change the way he plays.

“If I run into walls, then I run into walls. If I’m laying out three, four times a game, then I’m going to do it,” Doyle said.

Cory Sullivan, another former Rockies outfielder who is a TV analyst, hopes to see Doyle’s bat get back to the range he was in during his 2024 season. In ’25, Colorado platooned Doyle at times with Freeman and Moniak because Doyle’s bat was struggling.

“I hope and believe he will (hit) somewhere between .230 and .250,” Sullivan said.

Jordan Beck

Once a highly touted prospect who has shown flashes over the past two seasons, the Rockies are hoping Beck can take the next step in 2026.

The left fielder hit .258 with 16 homers last year, and in small sample sizes, looked like a potential future All-Star (i.e. five home runs over a three-game span in April, then a .314 average with an .801 OPS in July).

“Jordan has the potential to be a 20 (homers), 20 (steals) guy, and potentially a 30/30 guy,” Sullivan said. “Last year we saw him make strides, but then there’d be a week or two where he would kind of disappear.”

Sullivan also believes Beck has improved with his glove in his couple of seasons in the majors. With speed similar to Moniak’s but less than Doyle and McCarthy, Sullivan says Beck has gotten more comfortable tracking down balls at Coors Field.

“He worked with Brandon Stone, the Rockies’ (performance scientist), to work more on his setup position to give him better jumps and better routes, which is absolutely paramount at Coors Field,” Sullivan said.

Mickey Moniak

The former No. 1 overall pick by the Phillies in 2016 had a banner season in 2025, playing a career-high 135 games while hitting .270 with 24 homers. Only all-star Hunter Goodman was a more consistent offensive threat in Colorado’s lineup.

Colorado avoided arbitration with Moniak, who played mostly right field last season, with a one-year, $4 million deal. But is Moniak, in his age 28 season, part of Colorado’s long-term plan?

Probably not, Spilborghs says, which could make him midseason trade bait if his stock is high enough.

“He’s still arbitration eligible (in 2027) and he’s starting to make some money, but … he could have value for other teams,” Spilborghs said. “On the other hand, the Rockies may not want to lose that type of offensive player if he hits like he did last year.”

Like Beck, Moniak rated negatively in defensive WAR in ’25, but the defensive drawback could be offset by platooning him in right field. In the box, the left-handed hitting Moniak crushed right-handed pitching, hitting .276 with all but one of his homers coming against righties.

Jake McCarthy

McCarthy is the new wild card in this mix, and could very well end up starting in right field over Moniak.

He can play all three outfield spots and will be the fastest Colorado player with a sprint speed that ranks in the 99th percentile in MLB.

McCarthy is coming off a down season marred by an early-season slump that caused him to get demoted to Triple-A. He finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting in 2022 and played a career-high 142 games in 2024. There isn’t much pop in his bat, but he can hit for average and raises the defensive level of the outfield as a whole.

How well McCarthy plays could make Moniak expendable at some point, or, if the offer is right, Doyle, too. McCarthy, who came to Colorado in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect Josh Grosz, is under club control through 2028.

Tyler Freeman, Willi Castro

Freeman, who arrived in Colorado via trade for outfielder Nolan Jones last March, is a high-average, right-handed hitter who fits into the Moneyball philosophy of new Rockies president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta.

Castro, who signed a two-year, $12.8 million free agent deal with Colorado in January, is a switch-hitter who was an all-star for Minnesota in 2024.

Both Freeman and Castro can play the infield, and both could platoon at second base with Edouard Julien. They also give the Rockies an option to platoon at the corner spots. Freeman could play right field for Moniak against left-handers, or Castro could spell Moniak or Beck due to pitching matchups due to Castro’s switch-hitting capabilities.

“You can maximize value with those two guys, and that’s why I think the outfield will be very good and (one of the strengths of the team),” Sullivan said.

Darkhorses

With the other outfielders on the 40-man roster, the issue for those players to break through to a spot on the Opening Day roster is a lack of options held by the players ahead of them on the spring training depth chart.

Only Beck could realistically be sent to the minor leagues; Doyle also has options, but something would have to go very wrong for the Rockies to exercise one. Freeman has one option left. Moniak, McCarthy and Castro cannot be optioned and would have to be released to free up a roster spot.

That leaves Troy Johnston, Zac Veen and Sterlin Thompson on the outside looking in. Johnston could secure an opening-day roster spot at first base should he hit well this spring, but someone would probably have to get injured for Veen or Thompson to break with the team out of camp. Two other prospects who are non-roster invites to spring training, Jared Thomas and Cole Carrigg, are on the cusp of getting a big-league shot but that’s not likely to come early in the season.

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