SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The final months of Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle’s 2025 and his early days of this year have brought increasing joy.
The first months of unimaginable heartbreak and on-field struggles that paled in comparison faded away. Doyle posted a .287 batting average and .779 OPS after the All-Star break -- after he hit .202 with a .576 OPS during the first half.
Good times continued after the year, with social media posts of Doyle delighting in time with his wife, Shelby Rose, and daughter, Braelynn. Another bit of sweetness arrived on Feb. 3, when his high school -- Kettle Run in Nokesville, Va. -- retired the No. 7 jersey he wore for four seasons. Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Va., retired his No. 22 in 2023 -- when Doyle earned the first of his two Gold Glove Awards.
“To have my high school and college numbers retired is super special,” said Doyle, No. 9 in your Rockies program. “I remember growing up, playing on so many different fields and seeing numbers hung on the outfield fence -- realizing, ‘A guy from here made it to the pros, so why can’t I?’”
Doyle’s goal is to help inspire better from a Rockies team that went 43-119 last year. The strong ending has him and the club believing he can improve his .235/.274/.376 slash line in 138 games.
“Last year was a big rollercoaster for me,” Doyle said. “I went through some really good highs and really good lows. We know those lows help show you what needs to be done to get back to the highs. It was a good learning year, and I ended it on a strong note.”
Before life began looking up, Doyle can say he made it -- as in he made it through.
Even before driving in five runs in a 7-2 victory over the Brewers at Coors Field on April 10, Doyle was hurting from a left quadriceps injury. Later in the month, Doyle shared on social media the heartbreaking news that a miscarriage had occurred. Doyle missed seven days on the bereavement list.
“I regret how quickly I rushed back into the season,” Doyle said. “Maybe I should’ve taken more time with my wife, to be there for her and my family. She’s super-extroverted -- the complete opposite of me. But opposites attract. She’s my rock, and she’s a rock star.
“The offseason was a good time to catch up on family time and be there.”
Doyle also had to work on an out-of-kilter swing. The Rockies kept Doyle on the bench for three games in a four-game stretch at home while he tested remedies with hitting coaches. During a May trip to Arizona, Doyle did some at the team’s performance lab in Scottsdale and saw signs of a better swing. His batting average went above .200 for good on July 3.
Defensively, his participation and his metrics and statistics took a hit, although when the numbers were presented to him he was “pretty shocked.”
“If you were to ask me, out of my three years so far, I would have felt most confident in winning a Gold Glove or having a better year last year, just based on the eye test,” Doyle said. “I feel I had a lot of great plays and played really solid defense. I just didn’t throw out as many guys because not many people are running on me nowadays. I still think my defense is strong.”
As a performer, he found a level of consistency. Emotionally, it took longer.
“I would say I felt normal at times, but it was a lot harder to be that way,” said Doyle, who avoided arbitration in his first year of eligibility by signing for one year and $3.1 million. “Some months, you wake up every day and you’re right where you want to be. And some days, it takes a little longer throughout the day to be where you want to be. Last year, it was the second thing most of the time.”
Manager Warren Schaeffer sees a player who can be proud of his growth.
“Anytime you go through tough times, it makes you a stronger man -- or woman for that matter,” Schaeffer said. “‘BD’ went through a tough first half of the season, but the fact he turned it around and found a way to get it done at the highest level is impressive. There’s no way you don’t learn from that if you’re him.”
Doyle, whose challenge will be to bring his slash line in away games in 2025 (.162/.209/.251) to within a respectable distance of his Coors offense (.306/.341/.502), hopped into live batting practice on Saturday, refreshed and ready to keep the good times rolling.
“There’s a good buzz going on,” Doyle said. “I’m ready to start piecing it together.”