David Dahl Shows Versatility for Colorado Rockies

David Dahl continues to show his versatility for the Colorado Rockies. Whether it’s in the field or at the plate, Dahl has quickly become an integral part of Colorado’s success after the All-Star break.

When DJ LeMahieu was scratched from the lineup prior to Tuesday’s road game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Dahl was slotted into the second spot in the lineup. In his 28th game of his first professional season, Dahl has now hit in seven different slots in the order.

When someone has gone down with injury, Dahl has stepped into that person’s spot in the batting order without missing much of a beat. Charlie Blackmon out with a toe injury? No worries, Dahl will hit leadoff. DJ battling a sore wrist? Dahl can bat second. Carlos Gonzalez out with an ankle injury? Go ahead and slot Dahl into the cleanup spot.

It’s an amazing feat for a rookie to not only be able to slide into the lineup in any given spot, but also to have success at it as well.

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Coming into Tuesday’s game, Dahl was batting .337 with four homers and 15 RBI overall. Take a look at what he’s done in each position in the batting order, heading into Tuesday…

Leadoff – 6-for-16, 1 HR

Batting second – 1-for-4, 1 HR

Batting third – 2-for-12

Batting fourth – 4-for-16, 1 HR

Batting fifth – 14-for-36

Batting sixth – 6-for-16, 1 HR

Batting seventh – 2-for-4

And it’s not just at the plate where Dahl can slide in where needed. Blackmon’s toe injury moved Dahl into center field. While he’s primarily played left field this season (where he’s been a big upgrade over Gerardo Parra), he’s also played right when CarGo was injured.

“David has played all three (outfield positions), but I think center field is his primary,” Colorado manager Walt Weiss said shortly after Dahl was called up from Triple-A. “But I don’t even know if I can say that because he’s played so much of all three spots. We probably look at him like a center fielder that can play the corners. But yeah, he gives us some versatility and the opportunity to get Charlie off his feet.”

Dahl has fit in with a team that has a couple of Swiss Army knife type of players in Ryan Raburn and Daniel Descalso, who will seemingly be slotted in by Weiss anywhere from first base to the outfield.

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It’s no secret that Dahl has added a needed spark to a team that clawed its way back into the Wild Card conversation. It’s also no secret that Dahl is only to get better and more versatile with more Major League experience.