How the starting right fielder position battle is going so far during Spring Training

The Darkhorse: Michael Toglia

Toglia is a former first round pick coming with tons of pedigree and upside. Fans want to see the Rockies hit on a first-round pick and create a superstar. After seeing Toglia's struggles, a lot of fans were worrying that the Rockies selected yet another high strikeout bat that couldn't hack it at the major league level.

Toglia has dominated in the minor leagues but was awful in his short stints in 2022 and 2023. Combined he has 272 plate appearances, with just six home runs and he is running a career strikeout rate of nearly 35%. His career wRC+ is just 41, and coming into Spring Training, he looked like he would be on the outside looking in, needing more work at Triple-A to control the strikeouts.

This spring has been a very good one for Toglia. The former top prospect is hitting .318 with two home runs, and though the strikeout rate is still high (32%), he looks a little more comfortable at the plate. He has put up an insane 172 wRC+, and yeah, I know, it's just 10 games, but he is hitting the ball hard! Toglia is a surprisingly good defender in right field and if he keeps this up throughout Spring Training, we could see him steal the starting job from Sean Bouchard.

I don't like it but imagine the power! Kris Bryant moves to RF to make room for Elehuris Montero

Kris Bryant has been such a frustrating case for Rockies fans. The signing was surprising but looked like it pointed to a team that wanted to compete, and yet, just two years later, we are in the midst of a full on rebuild. Bryant may not be a big fan of the Rockies prospects, but one of them may be pushing him back to the outfield to make room for a power bat.

Bryant was slated to move to first base, to ensure his health. It seemed like a great idea as the largest contract in franchise history has played just 122 games over the last two years. The Rockies didn't really have a no-brainer first baseman, so moving the veteran to first base (hoping to wrap him in bubble wrap), seemed like the obvious answer.

The emergence, however, of former top prospect, Elehuris Montero, has made that decision a lot harder. Montero can DH a little bit, but with Charlie Blackmon manning the spot in what seems like his farewell tour, he will need to be in the field quite a bit. No one has really staked their claim on the starting right field job, but Monter is proving he deserves a spot in the Opening Day nine.

In this scenario, the Rockies move Bryant to right field and essentially tell him to stand there and look pretty. Don't try and run down any baseballs, don't try and make any diving plays. If it is hit right at you, cool, catch it and move on. If it isn't, let the Gold Glover, Brenton Doyle, run wild and chase it down. With him moving out to right field, it opens up the starting first base job for Montero, who is killing the baseball this spring.

Montero could very well force manager, Bud Black, into moving Bryant back out to the outfield. He is tearing the cover off the baseball this spring, hitting .333/.400/.857. No that's not a type, he is slugging .857! In 25 plate appearances, he has three home runs, and has only struck out 20% of the time. Montero is flashing all the potential of a middle of the order bat, showing he can live up to his potential.

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