Brenton Doyle went 22-for-79 in the 2023 season’s last stretch. Courtesy photo

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Not exactly a forbidden subject, Major League Baseball rookie Brenton Doyle’s offense still had to take a backseat to his noticeable defensive skills.

Doyle had advanced to the big leagues a little ahead of schedule when the Colorado Rockies brought him up from Class AAA Albuquerque early in the 2023 season.

The 25-year-old Doyle had hit well in his time in the Colorado minor league system. And his defensive work had been Gold Glove worthy even in his initial season at Grand Junction, Colo.

The usually struggling Rockies had some early-season injuries, so they plucked Doyle off the Class AAA Albuquerque roster and elevated him to the Major League team.

Doyle was a rare professional baseball commodity. He came from little acclaim at NCAA Division II Shepherd University, where his talents had been often seen in the March weather in eastern West Virginia by an increasing number of professional scouts.

After three seasons of feasting at times on West Virginia Conference pitching and showing the most obvious of baseball instincts, he became a 2019 fourth round draft selection of the wins-needy Rockies. Fourth-round draftees command a considerable bonus when they eventually sign their first professional contracts.

And being a business, professional baseball teams are seeking returns on their investments — be it players or anything else concerning making money as a sports franchise.

Doyle’s progress would be closely monitored.

He hit a cool .383 in his initial professional season at Grand Junction. That was in 2019 after being plucked off Shepherd’s campus.

By the spring of 2023 he had advanced to the Class AAA Albuquerque Isotopes.

And just into the Major Leagues he would come to Colorado and the Rockies where he would play in 126 games this past season.

When the season was completed on the first Sunday in October, the rangy centerfielder had done so well defensively that he has placed on a short and elite list of centerfielders named as Gold Glove candidates.

When he was named as the winner of the coveted Gold Glove, he became only the sixth rookie outfielder all-time in Major League history to be so honored.

He had recorded 10 assists and 19 “defensive runs saved” in first big league season.

Just as importantly, he had improved his oft-troubled offense in the season’s final weeks.

Doyle went 22-for-79 in the 2023 season’s last stretch. That .279 batting average was more than a mere breath of fresh offensive air.

In that .279 finish to last season, he had 16 RBIs and added two home runs, giving him a total of 10 homers for the season.

His final offensive numbers showed him with 22 stolen bases in 27 attempts, 48 RBIs, 48 runs scored, 16 doubles, five triples, a .593 OBS and a closing .203 batting average that had hovered below the dreaded .200 line for much of the season.

A Gold Glove. All his starts in centerfield. A rather rousing offensive finish to his 2023 season.

Doyle has become one of a rare breed to actually surface in the Major Leagues. An athlete from an NCAA Division II baseball school who cracked the glass ceiling of the Major Leagues . . . and now should have some added confidence that his season-closing offensive improvement can carry over into the 2024 season.