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Colorado Rockies: How the National League West can be won

By Colin Gaiser

LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 25: David Dahl #26 of the Colorado Rockies celebrates his solo homerun in front of Yasmani Grandal #9 of the Los Angeles Dodgers to take a 3-2 lead during the ninth inning at Dodger Stadium on September 25, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 25: David Dahl #26 of the Colorado Rockies celebrates his solo homerun in front of Yasmani Grandal #9 of the Los Angeles Dodgers to take a 3-2 lead during the ninth inning at Dodger Stadium on September 25, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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DENVER, CO – MAY 09: David Dahl #26 of the Colorado Rockies hits a double in the third inning against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Coors Field on May 9, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO – MAY 09: David Dahl #26 of the Colorado Rockies hits a double in the third inning against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Coors Field on May 9, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

Fixing the offense

If lineup construction is a puzzle, watching the front office set the lineups is like watching someone fumble clumsily with a Rubik’s Cube, only to get further and further from the solution.

A few tweaks would get them closer to solving the puzzle, at the very least.

First, David Dahl needs to play every day. He’d already proven himself at the Major League level — in 237 plate appearances in 2016, he slashed .319/.359/.500 with 113 wRC+. Yet he is being forced into a platoon role. He was out of the lineup against left-handed pitcher Joey Lucchesi on May 14, the day after breaking up left-handed Freddy Peralta‘s no-hitter and hitting a home run off left-handed reliever Dan Jennings in a 7-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Dahl is slashing .269/.300/.358 in 70 career plate appearances against left-handed pitching. Since 2016, Carlos Gonzalez is slashing .238/.266/.397 in 354 plate appearances against lefties. It makes no sense to give Gonzalez an everyday role in right field while platooning Dahl. Particularly in 2018, CarGo is slashing a .182/.229/.182 in 33 at bats thus far.

And while Gonzalez makes the occasional Statcast gem, he is still a league average outfielder, at best, as he is at -1 defensive runs saved.

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