GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle worried about his left wrist on Saturday night about as much as he frets about the center-field wall -- which is not at all.
In the second inning of a 6-4 victory over the Dodgers at Camelback Ranch, Doyle rushed into left-center for Santiago Espinal’s line drive and made a sliding catch -- with left fielder Jake McCarthy speeding his way. McCarthy leaped over Doyle.
Never mind that it was his first defensive play in Spring Training, after 11 days off because of a left wrist sprain. He also didn’t feel any pain in his wrist after his fifth-inning, broken-bat infield single off Blake Treinen, and didn’t pay it any mind when he stole second -- and grabbed the bag with the hand of the previously offending wrist.
“I just go play,” Doyle said. “Whenever I cross that line, it’s a different mentality for me. It’s always 100 percent. That’s what I always do.”
Doyle’s Major League debut in 2023 was delayed when he crashed into the fence to make a catch and sustained a bruised right knee while playing for Triple-A Albuquerque. Doyle had several wall collisions in ’23 and ’24, at times needing a day or two to rest a bruise. Never mind, though -- both seasons finished with him winning Gold Glove Awards.
A right quadriceps injury and a sore throwing shoulder contributed to him appearing in just 138 games last season, which didn’t end with a Gold Glove. But Doyle takes pride in his Gold Gloves and his defensive accomplishment, so nothing will stop him from going all-out.
During Doyle’s time out of the lineup this spring, he worked with fellow outfielders McCarthy and Jordan Beck, who played left field last season but is playing right field this spring in what manager Warren Schaeffer believes is the best use of range for all three.
Coors Field features a spacious outfield, but balls travel farther. It requires range for all three fielders, but some odd ball-flight patterns can lead to fielders coming together at high speeds.
“In the gaps at Coors, sometimes it can get tough -- guys are going full speed and hearing gets a little tough,” Doyle said. “That’s something we’ve been working on a lot in Spring Training, getting the communication down. I did everything during practices except for swing the bat with two hands. So for that amount of time, I did everything defensively.”
Schaeffer said, “He’s been practicing at full speed for the past week, and it showed up today.”
Tested
Lefty No. 11 prospect Sean Suillivan held the Dodgers to one run on three hits in three innings. Sullivan breezed through the first two frames with no base traffic. But his third inning, the sixth, began with singles by Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández, the last driving in a run.
Sullivan, who went 9-6 with a 3.14 ERA and 95 strikeouts in 97 1/3 innings at Double-A Hartford after a full recovery from right hip surgery in October 2024, forced grounders from Max Muncy and Kendall George before ending the inning with a Zach Ehrhard fly ball. The weak contact came from a deceptive delivery that has served him well since the Rockies selected him in the second round out of Wake Forest in 2023.
“I try to stick to my plan -- fill up the zone and let my fielders work,” said Sullivan, receiving a long look in camp before most likely joining Albuquerque's starting rotation.
A deceptive delivery that has hitters firing late on a fastball of below-average velocity is Sullivan’s calling card, and that has shown through four Cactus League contests.
“You know that lineup -- the names speak for themselves,” Sullivan said. “But I was trying to let my pitches work, plus mix in a new cutter, and not worry too much about the results.”
Rox on the run
In this game, McCarthy stole three bases (while the Rockies were 5-for-6 overall), and the team put balls in play on hit-and-run calls. If an aggressive strategy is going to carry to the regular season, no time like Spring Training to work on it -- especially against a National League West team, one that will have to note the willingness to run in its scouting report.
“We’re just trying to take advantage of everything that they’re giving us -- every night, if they give us bags, we’re going to try to take them,” Schaeffer said.