Colorado Rockies: David Dahl to start 2018 season at Triple-A

While Colorado Rockies fans may be excited about the future of the franchise with David Dahl roaming the outfield, they will have to wait a little longer to see that dream start to become a reality.

Per Nick Groke of The Denver Post, Dahl, who will turn 24 on Sunday, will start the season at Triple-A and not be on the Colorado Opening Day roster. This decision comes despite Dahl hitting .274 in the spring with a team-high five home runs and team-leading 24 RBI.

While Dahl has been excelling in the spring, the Rockies are wanting to make sure they don’t rush Dahl back to the Majors. After missing all of the 2017 MLB season with a rib injury suffered in spring training, Dahl will use the start of this season to work more on his swing and timing. Meanwhile, the Rockies will keep a close eye on Dahl to make sure he doesn’t have any kind of setback with his rib.

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Dahl was expected to compete for an Opening Day spot in the outfield and showed well in the spring. However, Colorado has a great deal of depth in the outfield, especially with Carlos Gonzalez signing a one-year deal to rejoin the team earlier this month.

Now, Colorado will need to make decisions on Raimel Tapia and Mike Tauchman to see which of them will join the Opening Day roster behind Gonzalez, Charlie Blackmon and Gerardo Parra.

Dahl splashed on to the MLB scene in 2016 after the Rockies called him up in June. In 222 at-bats, Dahl put together a .315 average with seven home runs and 24 RBI. He also totaled five stolen bases, showing he can be a difference-maker on the bases as well.

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Expected to make a big impact in 2017, Dahl suffered the rib injury and never stepped foot on the field in Denver last season. His return to the big leagues will have to wait just a little while longer it seems. However, Dahl will almost certainly see MLB action in 2018.