Doyle

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Brenton Doyle is now at the beginning of his third season in spacious Coors Field, playing for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball’s National League.

Doyle won a Gold Glove, emblematic of defensive prowess, both in his first and second year as the centerfielder of the Rockies.

Because it is located at over 5,000-feet altitude, Coors Field has outfield fences that are a considerable distance from home plate. The high altitude means a baseball travels farther in the lighter air . . . and roaming the vast outfield territory takes more than just speed and quick reactions.

When Doyle was playing for Shepherd, he routinely was stationed in centerfield or rightfield at cozy Fairfax Field with its friendly-to-the-hitters fences.

Doyle eventually was a fourth round draft selection of the Rockies, after his junior year at Shepherd.

Here in 2025, Doyle is off to a much-anticipated hitting beginning to the season.

From the games through this past Sunday, he was batting .321, going 17-for-53 in his 12 games.

He had slugged three home runs and three doubles while driving in 12 runs and scoring seven times.

Doyle hit 23 homers in the 2024 season.

Nearing his 27th birthday (born on May 14, 1998), Doyle has physically matured since his days with the Rams. He’s now listed at 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds.

Doyle was just recently moved to the leadoff spot in the Rockies batting order. On April 10, he began a game with a leadoff home run and had a four-hit game, as the Rockies posted a win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Colorado hasn’t been a contender for the postseason playoffs in its short history. It finished last in its division last season and has begun this year trailing the other four teams in the National League West.

Colorado’s starting pitching has suffered in the high altitude, where runs sometimes come in bunches.

For area fans who might want to attend a Rockies game when the team is in Baltimore, Washington, D.C. or Pittsburgh, they have a four-game series in Washington, D.C. from June 16-19, a three-game series in Baltimore from July 25-27 and a three-game series in Pittsburgh from August 22-24.

From hitter-friendly Fairfax Field in Shepherdstown to cavernous Coors Field in Denver, Doyle seemingly has made the transition with some comfort and maturity, as he becomes a contender for a third-straight Gold Glove.