Doyle, Toglia, Jones see extra work pay off 

DENVER -- Brenton Doyle began his Tuesday in the bright sun, working on hitting the pitches that have been burning him all season. Fellow rookies Nolan Jones and Michael Toglia took turns in the batting cage.

All three stayed hot during the evening. The Rockies entered the seventh inning down a run, but Jones and Toglia delivered doubles, and Doyle swatted a two-run homer to left-center field for a two-run lead.

But the D-backs scored five runs in the top of the ninth against closer Justin Lawrence and walked away with an 8-5 victory.

In all of their cases -- and add in second-year first baseman Elehuris Montero, who chose Tuesday for extra defensive work but had three hits in the game -- the assignment was the same: Hit pitches in the strike zone.

Rockies hitting coach Hensley Meulens called for the early work -- and the players readily accepted it -- as part of what has been a long and frustrating project. For each player, reducing high strikeout rates is the overarching goal. But getting there involves many steps, such as pitch selection and two-strike approach.

However, if they improve at Tuesday’s task -- hitting pitches in the strike zone -- pitch selection takes care of itself and, depending on when the hittable pitch comes, the two-strike approach is moot.

Tuesday was a payoff for the work and attention.

“Big-time progress,” Meulens said. “I told them all after the game, even though we lost, it was gratifying to see good at-bats today from all of them. You’ve got to celebrate every little victory they get when they do get them.

“For me, it was the best game that they all did something together.”

According to Statcast, the MLB average whiff -- or swing and miss -- rate on pitches within the strike zone was 17.8 percent going into Tuesday. Here are the rates for younger Rockies:

• Jones - 29.3 percent
• Doyle - 25.7 percent
• Montero - 22.0 percent
• Toglia - 21.8 percent

Ryan McMahon’s 26 percent whiff rate in the zone is problematic, as well, but his 19 homers soften the number.

All of the newer players have exhibited power in their Minor League careers, and some have shown big league flashes.

Doyle is batting .195 with 105 strikeouts in 87 games, but his homer was his eighth of the season, which suggests he can provide more power by simply hitting strikes. Jones, his team-high in-the-zone whiff rate notwithstanding, has 11 homers, and his two doubles and a single Tuesday were positive signs, as was a double that Toglia struck with the thunder he had shown at Triple-A Albuquerque.

The game ended with Charlie Blackmon and Ezequiel Tovar popping out with the bases loaded. But two of the three hits that loaded the bases were from Jones and Montero. Jurickson Profar, appearing for the first time since sustaining a right knee bruise on Sunday in Los Angeles, had the other hit.

“That’s what we’re hoping to see on more of a consistent basis,” manager Bud Black said of the overall performance from younger hitters.

The intensity and fatigue of a season can cause swings and approaches to slip for young players. Maybe another time for a more experienced player, rest is the remedy. But not this time for these guys.

“It’s the dog days of the season, so the body’s changed a little bit and you get a little more fatigued,” said Doyle, who homered on a Luis Frias middle-middle cutter. “So we’ve got to work and get some feel to our swings. That’s why we were out there early, trying to hammer balls from the fastball-curveball machine to see what swing is working for us right now.”

Even with the extra effort, Doyle had energy to run down several balls in center field. Jones crashed chin-first into the left-center wall after chasing down Tommy Pham’s fifth-inning drive. He also retrieved catcher Elias Díaz’s wild throw in the seventh and erased Ketel Marte at the plate with a 98 mph throw from the left-field corner to the plate, on the fly.

Now, for offensive happiness.

The softest of Jones’ three hits -- to lead off the ninth against Paul Sewald -- came on a pitch he concentrated on during the afternoon.

“I’ve been susceptible to fastballs at the top of the zone -- it’s something I’ve been working on for a little while now,” Jones said. “It’s not going to happen overnight, but the thought in the back of my mind is to cover that pitch.

“To be able to put one in play in the ninth at the top of the zone is exciting, because it shows something is happening.”