LOS ANGELES -- At some point, the league is going to learn not to run on Brenton Doyle. It seems that not everyone has gotten the message, though.

The rookie center fielder showed off his arm strength by nailing Amed Rosario at home in the second inning of the Rockies’ 6-1 loss on Friday night at Dodger Stadium. Doyle has been responsible for three of the nine 8-2 double plays turned in MLB this season -- and so far, he is the only player with more than one in 2023.

“Those are the kinds of plays that you’re just always running through your head,” said Doyle. “It's always cool to make a play like that, especially to save a big run.”

With starter Austin Gomber in a first-and-third, no-out jam, James Outman lofted a first-pitch slider to Doyle, who made the catch fairly deep in center. With the speedy Rosario taking off from third, Doyle fired a throw homeward, getting the ball to catcher Elias Díaz on a couple of bounces. Díaz was able to get a tag on Rosario and, for the time being, keep the Dodgers off the board.

Statcast tracked Doyle’s throw at 96.6 mph, which would rank as his 12th-hardest throw of the year. He’s topped out at 102.4 mph, which is tied with teammate Nolan Jones for the fourth-hardest throw by an outfielder this season.

“I mean, when you have a guy like that out there, you always feel like you have a chance, right?” said Gomber, who allowed two runs in five innings. “So I felt like there was going to be a play; I knew he was going to come up throwing. And then, kind of following the ball in, he made a great throw. Díaz did a really good job of getting slid into at the same time he was catching the ball and able to hang onto it. So it was a really good play, all around.”

Doyle’s first 8-2 double play came on May 10 against the Pirates, when he caught Bryan Reynolds trying to score with a 98.1 mph laser. He picked up his second on July 7 against the Giants at Oracle Park, nabbing Austin Slater at the plate with a 93.7 mph rope -- also behind Gomber.

“I love our pitching staff,” said Doyle. “I'll do anything for those guys. I'm just going to continue busting my butt to [get] everything I can, make as many plays as I can for them.”

“I think he's the best center fielder in the league,” said Gomber. “I mean, numbers kind of back that up.”

Sure enough, the numbers do love Doyle’s defense. Since his callup on April 24, his eight outs above average rank in the 96th percentile, placing him in a four-way tie for fourth best in the Majors. His arm strength ranks in the 97th percentile. In other words, you might not want to hit the ball to him -- and you probably don’t want to test him when you do.

“I think Brenton’s not a secret anymore,” said manager Bud Black. “I think that teams recognize his strength as a defender. It's been well documented that the velocity to his throws [is high] -- everything's measured these days, right? And he's got a great throwing arm with accuracy. … It’s something he works on. And he knows the value of center-field defense, and he takes a lot of pride in that.”

Of course, as with any rookie, there remains potential for growth. Doyle’s offensive stats have not yet aligned with the numbers he put up in the Minors. His first-rate speed remains a valuable tool, as evidenced by his 30.2 feet/second sprint speed beating out a grounder to third base for an infield single in the eighth inning. But shortly thereafter, he was nabbed in a close play trying to swipe second base -- his fourth time getting caught stealing in 19 attempts.

“You know, it was an aggressive move,” said Black. “It's questionable in some people's minds, right? But we got four hits against a really good bullpen. If he gets a second, we might get a chance to sneak a run across.”