As the Colorado Rockies shift their focus to the postseason, Major League Baseball recognized two Rockies for their exceptional performances in the final stretch of the regular season.
David Dahl received National League Player of the Week honors while Colorado Rockies standout pitcher German Marquez was named the National League Pitcher of the Month.
Dahl was sensational over the final month, and the last seven games in particular. He homered in five consecutive games and six out of seven, and had a triple and 15 RBI while batting 10-for-30. He is the fourth player in Rockies history to homer in five straight (joining Dante Bichette, Larry Walker and Nolan Arenado, who had six straight in September of 2015).
Dahl slashed .298/.469/.684 in September for a 148 wRC+ and 1.012 OPS. His nine total home runs was second on the team behind Trevor Story, and he led the team in RBI with 27. He went from being part of an outfield rotation to a player you can write in Sharpie on the lineup card.
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The renaissance of Dahl is especially thrilling given his disastrous history with injuries. Dahl lost his spleen and substantial playing time in 2015 after an outfield collision, and he spent 2017 nursing a rib injury. This season, he missed all of June and July with a broken foot, the result of fouling a ball off his right foot on May 30.
Meanwhile, Game 163-starter German Marquez rounded into “true ace” form this month and earned Pitcher of the Month honors. He went 3-1 with a 2.14 ERA over 33.2 innings, and was the pitcher in the critical win on September 21 at Arizona that kicked off the Rockies’ torrid 9-1 finish.
Marquez struck out 11 batters in four of five starts in September, and tied a Major League record by striking out the first eight batters in his last start against the Philadelphia Phillies. With just five walks over five starts in September, his strikeout-to-walk ratio was an eye-popping 9.60. He’s developed an impressive command of the breaking ball to go along with his mighty fastball.
He’ll need his best stuff this afternoon when the Rockies try to win their first division title in team history.