Since Warren Schaeffer took over as the interim manager of the Colorado Rockies on May 11, the top of Colorado’s batting order has been reshaped to give Jordan Beck a chance to leave his own mark on the leadoff role.

Beck took over as Colorado’s leadoff hitter in a May 16 road matchup against the Arizona Diamondbacks and has provided a spark, slashing .333/.333/.667 in the games where he has been in the top spot in the batting order.

His move up in the order has allowed Brenton Doyle, who was Colorado’s leadoff hitter in 32 games, to slide down to the fifth spot. It’s a shift that has benefited all involved. When batting fifth, Doyle’s OPS is .697 compared to .606 when he was hitting leadoff.

The move is part of Schaeffer’s push to not only have the Rockies play “free” but also have players feel more comfortable where they are in the lineup. That includes not moving players up and down the order as much as in the past, with Beck, shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and designated hitter/catcher Hunter Goodman filling in the top three slots for most games.

“I like the idea of guys showing up to the park knowing where they’re going to hit on a consistent basis,” Schaeffer said.

The potential return of second baseman Thairo Estrada could shake up the lineup a bit in the next week or so, but the Rockies will stick with Beck at the top of the order for the time being. That’s partly because Schaeffer has been getting honest responses from his players about that leadoff spot and listening to the feedback.

“I asked (Doyle) a couple of days into the job whether he was committed to the leadoff spot. Did he love it? Because that’s a big deal for a player. It can be a spot that some people don’t like,” Schaeffer explained. “He told me that he wasn’t crazy about it and he needed a little time.

“I said, ‘Alright, let’s go. I’m going to bump you and it’s going to be good for you and it’s going to be good for the team.’ For me, it’s a win-win.”

It’s also been a plus for Beck, who was ready to see what he could do with a cemented role as a leadoff hitter.

“He (Schaeffer) told me what he envisioned, what he was seeing and how I was playing,” Beck said. “He wanted to get me up to the plate as many times as possible.

“I’ve done it (batting leadoff) before. I like doing it. I like setting the tone, and that’s kind of what we rolled with.”

Setting the tone for the Rockies has been Beck’s M.O. since being recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque on April 19. Since then, he has slashed .294/.345/.588 with 25 runs scored, eight doubles, four triples, eight home runs and 15 RBI in 35 games. Through this span, the 38th overall pick in the 2022 MLB draft ranks among National League leaders in triples (second), extra-base hits (20, third), total bases (80, tied for second), slugging percentage (sixth) and OPS (.933, sixth). He also has three multi-home run games since April 24.

“I like knowing day in and day out where people are in the lineup and also who’s behind me,” Beck said. “I have one of the better players in the game behind me (Tovar). I like to think that I get some pitches to hit, but also they still have to worry about me taking bases, so maybe that gets ‘Tovie’ some more pitches to hit, too.”

Beck believes the lineup swap will benefit the Rockies moving forward and perhaps set off a change the Rockies desperately need at the plate. Through the team’s first 54 games of the season, Colorado had scored 173 runs (3.2 per game, 29th among MLB’s 30 teams) while leading all teams in strikeouts (530).

“It frees everybody up,” Beck said. “In the five spot (where Doyle is slotted), there are a lot of opportunities to have people on base. Obviously, you got Tovie, Goody and Mac (Ryan McMahon), all good players in this league, ahead of you. It also separates speed throughout the lineup too, so I like it for sure.”