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The MLB season can be a mentally taxing grind, and recently benched Colorado Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle has experienced this to an extreme degree both on and off the field.
Doyle cranked the first pinch-hit home run of his career during a 10-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Saturday. He was open about the experience as well as his season overall.
“It’s definitely different,” Doyle told MLB.com’s Manny Randhawa. “The kind of mental battle, whether you’re going to go in the game or not. But, you know, I’m trying to do the best I can with it. And tonight was a pretty good night.”
After an impressive 2024 that saw him hit 23 home runs and record a .764 OPS, Doyle started the season on a tear. But, the 27-year-old had to take time away after the news of his wife’s miscarriage, and he has understandably struggled to find his rhythm at the plate or in the field since then on a historically bad Rockies team.
Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer made the decision to sit Doyle prior to the start of the team’s series against Chicago.
“I was honest with [Schaeffer] and told him that I’ve never had to do anything like this,” Doyle said after his pinch-hit home run. “So I can’t tell you if it’s going to benefit me or not, but we built a good plan with the hitting coaches to get some good work in. And it showed a little bit tonight.”
Overall, Doyle has hit seven home runs and is sporting a .587 OPS.
According to Baseball Savant, Doyle ranks in the 73rd percentile in Barrel%, the 70th percentile in Hard-Hit%, and the 61st percentile in Squared-Up%. While these marks are not elite, they do illustrate that Doyle’s process is encouraging.
If the Warrenton native continues to find barrels and remains consistent with his approach, it will not be long until he breaks out for a Rockies team that has only won 20 games.
