Colorado Rockies Rookie David Dahl Eyeing History
By Jason Burke
The Colorado Rockies remain in the NL wild card picture, despite suffering four straight losses, including three of the heartbreaking variety to the Texas Rangers. Part of the reason they have managed to hang around, even with the loss of power-hitting rookie shortstop Trevor Story,has been the addition of David Dahl to the lineup.
David Dahl and Alex Bregman were called up, and debuted on the same day, July 25. The Houston Astros have struggled, going 4-11 in that span, while Bregman is batting just .143 with a .213 on-base percentage and two runs batted in. The Rockies haven’t exactly set the world on fire with an 8-8 record, but Dahl certainly has made his impression felt, going 22-for-59 (.365) with a .394 OBP, three homers and nine driven in.
But this isn’t about a premature Dahl/Bregman comparison. Instead, the Rockies rookie outfielder has recorded at least one hit in each of his first 16 games, tying the franchise mark set by Juan Pierre in 2000 for most consecutive games with a hit to begin a career. The all-time record belongs to Chuck Aleno of the Cincinnati Reds who recorded a hit in 17 straight back in May of 1941, the same year as Joe DiMaggio‘s 56 game hit streak.
Aleno lasted four years in the majors, playing in 118 games over that span. 54 of those games came in his rookie season. Over his first 17 games, Aleno hit .389 with a .413 OBP.
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The franchise-tying hit came last night in the top of the 8th inning of a game in which the Rockies trailed the Rangers 3-1. After Keone Kela recorded the first out of the inning, he walked Nolan Arenado, and gave up a single to Mark Reynolds to put runners on first and second with Dahl coming up.
Rangers manager Jeff Bannister came out to make a pitching change, calling upon left-hander Jake Diekman to face Dahl, who had yet to record his obligatory hit. After swinging through a high fastball to make the count 0-1, Dahl roped the next offering down the first base line to score two, tying the game, and landing himself at third with a triple.
It should be noted, that through this early part of his career Dahl is hitting a ridiculous .462 against left-handers (6-for-13), so the conventional wisdom of lefty-on-lefty failed the Rangers this time around. Texas ended up winning the game, so it didn’t hurt them in the long run. The move could have been made to sap his power, however, as his slugging percentage against lefties is the same as his batting average, while his slugging percentage against righties is sitting at .652 to go along with a .348 average.
The two teams will meet again this afternoon in Arlington in the finale of their four-game home-and-home series, and David Dahl will have a chance to tie the all-time mark set 75 years ago.