Colorado Rockies: Could David Dahl make the Opening Day roster?

As Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports, Dahl will progress from a simple swing to hitting off a tee and then soft-toss hitting. If all goes well, he would be on schedule to take normal swings in a spring training game. That is, if everything goes according to plan and there isn’t a setback.

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If Colorado opens the season with 13 pitchers and 12 position players on its Opening Day roster, that would likely mean two catchers, five infielders and five outfielders. Right now, those outfielders would certainly include Desmond, Blackmon and Parra. The other two spots are where the competition lies between Tapia, Dahl and likely Mike Tauchman, who made his MLB debut last season.

If Dahl stays healthy and can impress Black, he and Tapia likely grab the last two spots. If his swing doesn’t come around as quickly, he likely starts the year at Triple-A and works his way into the mix later in the month or no later than Memorial Day.

Baseball Reference predicts Dahl to get 204 at-bats in 2018 with eight home runs and 26 RBI. Those are by no means full season numbers, meaning the site could well be prognosticating Dahl to be on the outside looking in on Opening Day.

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The Rockies need another bat in the lineup and Dahl could well be that bat. However, a lot of things have to fall into place (health, competition and hitting to start) for that to be the case when the Rockies step onto Chase Field for Opening Day against the Arizona Diamondbacks on March 29.