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Doyle at Spring Training with Rockies in Arizona

By Bob Madison - For the Chronicle | Mar 3, 2023

Former Shepherd University All-American outfielder Brenton Doyle was named to the 40-man roster for the Colorado Rockies this past November. Courtesy photo

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Scottsdale stands amidst the sands and sprawl of Arizona.

It’s located in a line of suburban towns that can boast about hosting Major League Baseball training camps.

The state of Arizona can rightly make muffled claims about now rivaling Florida as the mecca of baseball’s preseason conditioning centers.

And, lying in the mostly posh security of Scottsdale, is the training headquarters of the still-positive Colorado Rockies.

The Rockies were fifth and last in their division in 2022. Optimists scan their roster and, after wrinkling their noses, see some possibility of the team finishing the coming 2023 season with a .500 break-even record.

These manicured and sculpted grounds will be the month of March’s location for one-time Shepherd University outfielder Brenton Doyle.

Doyle was a fourth-round signee of the Rockies in June 2019. He’s now 24 years old, with a birthday coming on May 14.

Since becoming a professional following his junior season at Shepherd, Doyle has played three seasons in the Minor Leagues and has been elevated to Colorado’s 40-man roster.

He’s also an invitee to the “big club’s” Major League training camp.

After finishing his 2022 season on the upswing, he is expected to make Class AAA Albuquerque his home this summer.

Albuquerque, which is known as the Isotopes, plays in a 13,500 seat stadium.

Doyle’s baseball career has progressed according to plan. In 2019, he began his pro career at Grand Junction in Colorado, where he batted a crisp .383 on 180 at-bats. His 69 hits included eight homers, 33 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. He patrolled right field and center field, and quickly gained the confidence of Colorado’s front office as an athletic outfielder who would not have to be hidden when and if he ever reached the Major Leagues.

There was no Minor League Baseball in the COVID-19 Pandemic year of 2020.

Then in 2021, Doyle played in Spokane of the Pioneer League, a Class A destination.

With 390 official at-bats, Doyle hit .279 and finished with 16 homers, 70 runs scored, 47 RBIs and 21 stolen bases.

Last year, he spent the season in Class AA New Haven (Connecticut) with the Yard Goats for the most part before going to Albuquerque to complete his year.

He managed a total of 507 at-bats and scored a combined 82 runs while hitting 26 homers. He drove in 77 runs and stole 23 bases. His combined batting average in Class AA and AAA was .256. He batted over .300 while finishing the year in Albuquerque.

Doyle is not expected to be with the Rockies when that team breaks camp in late March, to begin its 162-game grind through the six-month Major League schedule.

If all goes according to plan, he could be a late-season call up for the Rockies in September.

The Colorado front office sees Doyle as an athletic figure suited for either center field or right field. They like his stolen base potential and power to all fields.

Strikeouts have at times been a problem and hitting instructors have slightly changed his swing to possibly lower that number.

Doyle received a large-figure bonus when he signed . . . and big league teams have always been famous (or infamous) for watching after the welfare of any player with a large bonus.

It’s early March in teeming Scottsdale. And former Shepherd outfielder Brenton Doyle is on the projected path that is likely to land him on the Major League team in 2024.