Colorado Rockies: David Dahl to Miss Some Time
By Jason Burke
The Colorado Rockies are everyone’s favorite sleeper pick to contend for a wild card spot this season, but the club may be without outfielder David Dahl when the regular season arrives.
According to The Denver Post, Dahl could be out of action for a couple of weeks with back issues. In his 63 games with the Colorado Rockies last season as a rookie, Dahl hit .315 with a .359 OBP and a 111 wRC+. While he isn’t expected to be the motor that keeps the Rox offensive engine moving, he is a valuable piece of their lineup and is a solid defensive outfielder.
If Dahl is to miss opening day and beyond, that could lead to Gerardo Parra getting more time in left field, and that is an option that Colorado would like to avoid. Last season Parra was worth a -1.8 fWAR after holding a 56 wRC+ (with 100 being average) and a 2.4 percent walk rate. Out of all players with at least 300 plate appearances, Parra’s 56 wRC+ was the seventh-worst in all of baseball, tied with middle infielder Adeiny Hechavarria and backup catcher Dioner Navarro. His walk rate was the worst under those same parameters and his fWAR was second to last, just ahead of Alexei Ramirez‘s -2.4.
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In short, the injury to Dahl opens the door for Parra to potentially see more playing time, which is not a good thing. Who knew a hitter could perform so poorly at Coors?
The silver lining here could be the fact that Raimel Tapia, the club’s number four prospect per Baseball America, could see some extra playing time as well. Tapia spent most of last season in Double-A Hartford before playing under a month in Triple-A and then getting 41 plate appearances in the bigs.
That time in the majors did not measure up to his stat lines in the minors, as he hit just .263 with a .293 OBP and a strikeout percentage of 26.8. In both stops in the minors last season Tapia never eclipsed an 11% strikeout rate, so that figures to trend downward as he gets more experience. His average should also climb, as he hasn’t hit below .300 since Rookie ball in 2011. If Tapia were to excel and Dahl was deemed healthy, that could lead to a trade being made involving either free-agent-to-be Carlos Gonzalez or center fielder Charlie Blackmon.
The other route that Colorado could take, if needed, is to have another player take over first base and let Ian Desmond roam around in left field until Dahl is ready to return to action.
It looks like the Rockies have enough depth options to make do for a short stint, but if the injury begins to linger, that’s when the Rockies may have to scramble for an answer. If they wanted to go completely loco, they could take a swing on Ryan Howard having a couple of solid months in him at elevation, putting him at first while Desmond takes over in the vast Coors outfield.
The Rockies have options, but their main option is Dahl–both in the short term and the long term.