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Colorado Rockies: What to do with David Dahl as the season approaches

ByAaron Hurt|
NEW YORK, NY - JULY 31: David Dahl #26 of the Colorado Rockies follows through on a second inning double against the New York Mets at Citi Field on July 31, 2016 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JULY 31: David Dahl #26 of the Colorado Rockies follows through on a second inning double against the New York Mets at Citi Field on July 31, 2016 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Before the start of spring training, the opening day roster for the Colorado Rockies’ outfield had appeared cut and dry. But like most springs, multiple storylines have made that picture evolve practically everyday.

From the hand injury to Gerardo Parra, the struggles of Ian Desmond (don’t worry, I won’t bash him after he hit a pair of home runs on Friday against the Angels), and to the re-addition of Carlos Gonzalez, Bud Black has had his hands full with what to do with his lineup. Now there is a new storyline: The resurgence of David Dahl.

A couple of weeks ago, I had already written off Dahl of having any chance of making the Opening Day roster. After missing all of last season with a stress fracture in his ribs, as expected, he had a lot of rust to shake off. He began the spring with zero base hits in his first 15 at-bats.

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Since then, Dahl has come on strong. In his last 35 at-bats, he has 10 hits including a triple, a team-leading five home runs and 14 RBI with only eight strikeouts.

He is slowly beginning to look like the player who began his Major League career with a 17-game hitting streak (tying the MLB record) and finished the 2016 season hitting .315 and seven homers in limited action.

The competition for the final outfield spot has been fierce between Raimel Tapia, Mike Tauchman, and Dahl. Tauchman has been the most consistent throughout spring with a batting average of .327. I originally believed Tapia had the inside track to start in right until the signing of CarGo and his recent struggles at the plate (6 for his last 26).

Next: Potential Rockies lineups with CarGo now on the team

My prediction is that the Rockies will go with Tauchman and have Dahl start the season in AAA Albuquerque so he can be in the lineup everyday. But if he continues to hit balls over the fence and drive in runs over the next week and half, it will hard to keep him away from suiting up in Arizona for the season opener on March 29.

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