Colorado Rockies Struggling Slugger Given Reset to ‘Clear His Head’ at Plate

The Colorado Rockies are giving their struggling outfielder a few days off to try and find his swing again.

Jun 10, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle (9) slides into third on an RBI triple in the eighth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field. / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

True to his word, Colorado Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer didn’t have outfielder Brenton Doyle in the lineup again on Saturday.

That should be the case on Sunday, too, when the Rockies wrap up their three-game series with the Chicago White Sox at Coors Field.

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Doyle is being given the weekend off, something a Major League player doesn’t normally get in the middle of the season unless they’re injured or there is a personal issue. But, in this case, the only issue the 27-year-old outfielder has right now is his offense.

Before the series began, Schaeffer told local reporters, including the Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders, that Doyle would get the series off to do cage work and “clear his head.”

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When one looks at the right-handed hitter’s season, it’s easy to see why the Rockies are giving him some time.

Like many Rockies hitters, Doyle has been problematic on offense this season. In 74 games he’s slashed 201/.252/.320 with six home runs and 20 RBI.

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That’s a huge drop from last season, his second as a full-time Major Leaguer. He slashed .260/.317/.446 with 23 home runs and 72 RBI.

In 2023, his rookie season, he also struggled at the plate. In 126 games he slashed .203/.250/.343 with 10 home runs and 48 RBI. But he was a rookie, and the Rockies were letting him play through the struggles, in part because he is such a plus defender. He’s won a National League Gold Glove in each of his first two seasons.

Schaeffer doesn’t share the same desire to let Doyle play through it again as the season passed the midway point.

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It’s in Colorado’s interest to be patient with Doyle. He remains in pre-arbitration through next season and cannot be a free agent until 2030. He could easily be their answer in center field for the next four seasons. But Colorado can’t have him oscillating from season to season like this at the plate.

The good news is that Doyle came in as a pinch-hitter on Saturday and hit a solo home run to give him seven on the season. So the reset may already be taking hold.

The Rockies drafted him in the fourth round of the 2019 MLB draft out of Shepherd University, a Division II school in Shepherdstown, W.V.

His defense was his path to the Majors. He won a minor league Gold Glove in 2021 and he also won the Fielding Bible award along with his second Gold Glove last season.

If his bat can pick up as it did a season ago, then the Rockies have their center fielder of the present — and future.

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