Rockies rookie Brenton Doyle pockets Gold Glove award

For all that went awry for the Colorado Rockies as they stumbled to a franchise record for losses, the defense of rookie Brenton Doyle was something that went right. And he didn’t just pop on the highlights, he was an analytics darling, posting an MLB-leading 24.5 UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating) as calculated by FanGraphs — a whopping 10.7 points higher than the No. 2 player, San Diego’s Fernando Tatis.

Thus, a massive honor was in the cards for Doyle.

Sunday night, MLB announced him as the winner of the Rawlings Gold Glove award for center field.

Doyle was credited with 19 defensive runs saved this season — the second-highest in Major League Baseball for any outfielder.

It might have come as a surprise to casual observers. But the Rockies knew what they were getting when they promoted Doyle, who wasted no time flourishing in the field after his early-season promotion.

Brenton Doyle showed signs of his defensive wizardry in the minor leagues, earning the minor-league Gold Glove for his work in 2021, when he played at high-A Spokane.

And at the end of the season, Doyle showed signs of becoming a solid hitter. After spending most of the season with a sub-Mendoza Line average, he hit .261 from Sept. 1 onward, nudging his season-long batting average to .203. He also showed a burst of power, posting a .467 slugging percentage from Sept. 1 through the end of the season.

Doyle’s glove and range will be enough to keep him around — especially at Coors Field, where a center fielder who can cover plenty of ground is essential to patrol Major League Baseball’s largest outfield. If he can be a serviceable hitter — as he was in September, he should develop into a lineup mainstay.

But for now, Doyle already has an honor for his trophy case.

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