Brenton Doyle's highlight-reel defense goes back to his days at Kettle Run High School | MLB Insider

In his MLB Insider, Denver Gazette beat writer Luke Zahlmann takes you around the Rockies and MLB:

Kettle Run High School’s baseball field in Virginia began a path to Brenton Doyle’s major-league highlight reel going national.

A pair of light stanchions sit on the corners of the school’s expansive outfield, and the laps he ran between them to chase down balls prepared him for Coors Field. He didn’t know that a Shepherd University stint in West Virginia would precede a major-league career, but his legs and glove were ready for the challenge when it did.

Gold Glove awards in college, the minor leagues, and as a rookie in the majors followed his efforts. And none of them would’ve been possible without a vast training ground in high school.

“We had a really big field at our high school. Not many home runs were hit,” Doyle said. “I was tracking balls down to the point that I was getting a lot of notice for it. I brought it with me to Shepherd and now here. Center field is a position I’ve always been comfortable with.”

He made SportsCenter’s job easy on Sunday in Chicago.

Luis Robert Jr. smacked a ball to right-center field in the sixth inning. Fully extended, Doyle caught it, his legs nearly touching his back on the dive. Tommy Pham was the next victim, in the 12th inning, with a runner on third base and a walk-off looming. Pham slashed Tyler Kinley’s slider to dead center and Doyle dove to make the grab. He laid on his back for a moment to cherish the moment as Kinley applauded the Rockies' savior from the pitcher’s mound.

Doyle followed it up with his second career two-home-run game in Monday’s extra-inning win against Milwaukee.

Doyle’s .203 average as a rookie was easier to palate because of his ability to save runs on defense. Only Dansby Swanson, Willy Adames and teammate Ezequiel Tovar have been more valuable in the field than him since the start of last season, and he racked up the FanGraph numbers in fewer innings than any of them.

His .260 average as a second-year player gives him added confidence to take risks in the outfield. Many of his catches would've rolled to the wall and added runs if the ball dropped.

“When things aren’t going your way, it can become less fun,” Doyle said. “To be doing well on both sides of the ball increases your confidence and mood, and that transfers day to day.

“Playing outfield as long as I have, you get a feel for which plays you need to be aggressive. You get a feel for the game and the balls that you have a chance on.”

A trip to Fenway Park in 2023 was another catalyst for his confidence.

Doyle turned Red Sox faithful into Rockies fans for a moment. A ball tailing to his arm side in center field never touched grass as Doyle’s dive ended its flight. The catch still stands out in his memory as the best of his career, and Boston’s fans cheered his efforts, despite the defense being a detriment to Pablo Reyes, who hit the ball.

Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani found out too when Doyle robbed his 111.7-mph line drive to the gap on June 18.

Doyle’s catches won’t be forgotten soon. His imprint in the Coors Field wall from a leaping catch earlier this year hasn’t been fixed and is a reminder of his abilities.

Ask him about it and he’ll give the same smile and shrug he provides after a standout play. It’s easy to act like you’ve been there before when you’ve been doing it since high school.

What I'm hearing

• Germán Márquez may have returned this week if not for Triple-A Albuquerque’s hitter’s paradise.

He threw a rehab start with the Isotopes on June 28 and checked off several boxes. The righty underwent Tommy John surgery on May 12, 2023, but peaked at 97 mph with his fastball and reported no ill effects after the start last week. His two-thirds inning with four earned runs allowed was a result of missed location to force him to make another rehab start.

Márquez will head to Double-A Hartford for his next rehab start due to its proximity to Cincinnati and New York, the Rockies’ next two opponents. His return is imminent.

“He’s going to hop on a plane in a day or two and go to Hartford to pitch,” manager Bud Black said on Monday. “It might have been a little sooner if he (had) gotten through that last outing, right? That last outing got to him.”

The return will force another arm out of Colorado’s rotation. Márquez carried a 4.95 earned run average in his last two seasons, respectively, before surgery. Márquez was named a 2021 All-Star and had a 3.75 ERA in 2020.

Kyle Freeland replaced Ty Blach in the rotation and one of Ryan Feltner or Dakota Hudson will be supplanted by Márquez. A rotation of the two mainstays alongside Austin Gomber and Cal Quantrill will give the club its best group in years if it can stay healthy.

The progress may enable the club to deal a pitcher to a contender at the deadline too, further aiding the team’s rebuild for the future.

• Elehuris Montero dealt with the pressure of being acquired for franchise icon Nolan Arenado in 2021 and his Rockies’ road took a hit in Chicago on Sunday.

The infielder was designated for assignment to make room for Elias Díaz’s return from the injured list. Colorado also designated utility infielder Alan Trejo last week to make room for Aaron Schunk’s debut as the club looks to find future pieces.

Trejo elected free agency after clearing waivers and Montero may do the same. His Colorado career may be over after strikeout improvements didn’t yield better stats.

“He’s still 25 years old, he still hopefully has a lot of career left,” Black said. “There was still a big part of us that thought he was going to recapture what he did the last part of last season which was good stuff. The intent this year was to work on cutting the strikeout rate down, cutting the chase rate down, which he did pretty dramatically. It’s perplexing how that didn’t translate into better performance.

“We were hoping for a little bit more old-school production — homers, RBI, on-base (percentage) and it just didn’t happen. We had to (decide) where to go with our roster.”

Montero will return to Triple-A Albuquerque if he clears waivers and stays with the organization. If not, Gomber will be the last piece remaining from the Arenado trade that sent shockwaves through the league.

Minor League minute

MLB announced Futures Game rosters on Tuesday and Colorado’s representative will be starter Chase Dollander.

He joins other top prospects on the National League roster like St. Louis hurler Tink Hence (No. 43), San Diego catcher Ethan Salas (No. 6), and Arizona outfielder Druw Jones (No. 80). The 25th annual game will showcase young talent on July 13 at Globe Life Field as part of All-Star weekend in Texas. It will be broadcast on MLB Network at 2 p.m.

Dollander is the Rockies’ top pitching prospect and was their top selection in the 2023 MLB Draft. The league’s No. 37-ranked prospect sports a 3.05 ERA in 12 starts with High-A Spokane and has the Northwest League lead in strikeouts (92).

Outfielder Yanquiel Fernandez (No. 67 in 2024) was Colorado’s pick in 2023.

The list

Baseball Reference’s Colorado Rockies’ all-time defensive wins above replacement (dWAR) leaders:

1. Troy Tulowitzki (2007) - 3.9

2. Clint Barmes (2006) - 3.2

3. Brendan Rodgers (2022) - 2.9

T-4. Nolan Arenado (2015) - 2.8

T-4. Trevor Story (2019) - 2.8

6. Troy Tulowitzki (2010) - 2.7

7. Ryan McMahon (2021) - 2.6

8. Nolan Arenado (2019) - 2.5

9. Nolan Arenado (2013) - 2.3

T-10. Brenton Doyle (2023) - 2.2

T-10. Ezequiel Tovar (2023) - 2.2