One of the more disappointing aspects of the 2025 season for the Colorado Rockies has been the struggles of Gold Glove center fielder Brenton Doyle. After a tremendous step forward offensively in 2024, Doyle’s bat has been a mixture of bad luck and unproductive results.

Through the end of June, Doyle slashed .193/.247/.314 with six home runs in 71 games. He got off to a red-hot start to begin the season, but between a nagging leg injury and tragedy at home, that red-hot start became ice cold from a production standpoint.

Now, Doyle’s expected stats were projected to be much higher than his actual stats were showing. He was hitting the ball well, but the hits weren’t coming. He was drawing walks at a reasonable enough rate for himself, though they were still lower than league average, and strikeouts weren’t obscene or different from last season. Doyle’s bad luck continued to compound, despite everything, and it was difficult to ignore the lack of contribution.

The emergence of Mickey Moniak provided some relief for the Rockies, giving manager Warren Schaeffer a chance to platoon Doyle a little bit more and give him an increased number of days off as needed. All the while, the Rockies worked with Doyle to readjust his swing and approach, as well as work on his mental side of the game.

Flying under the radar, Doyle has quietly improved quite a bit since the start of July and is looking like his old self at the plate more and more.

When the calendar flipped to July, Doyle found himself batting .197/.251/.320 with just six home runs through 71 games. However, since July 1, he has managed to slash .356/.385/.517 with four home runs and 12 RBI in 27 games. It’s been a noticeable difference if you’ve been keeping a close eye on his production.

Since the start of July, Doyle has collected a hit in all but six games in which he’s made an appearance. There have been seven multi-hit games, including a four-hit performance against the Pittsburgh Pirates on August 1 that was highlighted by his walk-off home run. Entering Tuesday, Doyle has managed to raise his .197 AVG a massive 36 points to .233, a figure much more in line with the .253 XBA per Baseball Savant.

After a strong month of July, Doyle has continued the trend in August (more on that in a second). Here is a comparison of his slash line in each month of the season:

April: .227/.278/.470May: .194/.269/.276June: .151/.184/.247July: .327/.351/.400August: .406/.441/.719

The All-Star Break seemed to truly be a turning point for him as it gave him a chance to re-energize and reset. Since those days off, Doyle has slashed .407/.429/.593 with six of those multi-hit games occurring. Additionally, Doyle hit just one home run through 18 games in July. Through just nine games in August, he has already swatted three of them.

The return of his slugging abilities would be another welcome development for Doyle as he tries to re-establish himself this season. He has gotten to 10 home runs on the season, but his ability to get extra-base hits has taken a tumble. As of writing, Doyle has just 13 doubles on the season, roughly on par with the 16 he had in 126 games back in 2023. He has roughly averaged 2-3 doubles a month, though he managed just one in July and has just one in August.

I’m not going to fault Doyle for not being an extra-base machine, especially after the season he has had. The small steps of consistently getting good swings and tallying at least one hit per game is perfectly fine. As the hits continue to mount up and he continues to build confidence, the slugging is the natural next step through the next month of the season. We’ve already seen the home run numbers improve this month, and I expect those line drive base hits will turn into gap doubles.

I’d also like to see Doyle start to get more confident on the bases and start swiping more bags. After back-to-back seasons with at least 20 stolen bases, including 30 last season, Doyle has just 11 stolen bases this season. He has only been caught stealing once in 12 attempts, but he appears to have averaged one or two steals per month. Now, part of that problem is that he hasn’t been on base as much, but his .270 OPB is still higher than the .250 he put up in 2023 when he swiped 22 bags. His walk rate is also higher than that season. Perhaps he’s been playing it more carefully, not wanting to aggravate his legs more than he needs to, but Doyle being able to consistently swipe bases at the rate he did over the last two seasons would be a huge boon for both him and the team.

There is no doubt this has been a less-than-ideal season for Doyle. Between the struggles on the field and the difficult circumstances he and his wife have dealt with this year, you can understand why this hasn’t been a good season for him. However, Doyle has quietly proved why he can be a valuable contributor to a big league team. He’s the main staple in the lineup like we hoped he would be, but he has managed to regain his confidence and showed off his clutch gene over the last few weeks.

All the while, Doyle has done amazing things with his glove, making the incredible catches that made him a two-time Gold Glove winner in center field. It took a little longer than we may have hoped, but Doyle is starting to feel like himself again, and I look forward to seeing what he can do for the rest of the season.

Triple-A: Oklahoma City Comets 8, Albuquerque Isotopes 6

The Isotopes outhit the Comets on Tuesday night but failed to get the win as two late runs by Oklahoma City proved the difference. Sterlin Thompson continued his hot stretch, going 3-for-4 with a double. Michael Toglia also had a strong night, swatting a three-run home run as part of a two-hit night. Ryan Ritter, making a rehab start, went 1-for-4 with two RBI. Kyle Brnovich, signed just today, made the start for Albuquerque and struggled in his 1 2/3 innings of work, giving up five runs on just two hits with five walks.

Double-A: Harrisburg Senators 5, Hartford Yard Goats 3

The Yard Goats swatted three home runs, but couldn’t muster much else in their loss to the Senators. Braylen Wimmer, Julio Carreras, and Bryant Betancourt each hit a solo home run, but the only other highlight was Nic Kent’s two hits and Jared Thomas’s two walks. Jack Mahoney tossed 4 2/3 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits.

High-A: Vancouver Canadians 10, Spokane Indians 3

Josh Grosz started the hill for Spokane and battled his command throughout his start. He threw five innings and allowed three runs on five hits, but he also issued five walks. His start wasn’t awful, but the offense couldn’t bail him out as they scored just three runs in the final two innings while the bullpen struggled. Spokane had just four hits while they struck out 13 times and went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Alberto Pacheco took the brunt of the damage, allowing five runs over 2 2/3 innings.

Low-A: Fresno Grizzlies 4, Stockton Ports 2

Ethan Holliday made his highly anticipated professional debut with the Fresno Grizzlies as they secured a 4-2 victory. Holliday went 2-for-4 with a double and a strikeout (check out two hits below). Derek Bernard led the way offensively, crushing his sixth home run of the season and also had an RBI double. Jackson Cox made the start and cruised through 4 2/3 innings, allowing two runs, one earned, with two strikeouts and a walk. The bullpen held firm the rest of the way with a parade of scoreless outings.

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