Colorado Rockies morning after: David Dahl showing All-Star credentials

Take a look at the first installment of the National League All-Star Game voting totals, Colorado Rockies fans. Now take a deeper look at the results for the outfield voting so far.

Sure, the Colorado Rockies are represented on the list with Charlie Blackmon coming sixth in the early voting. However, David Dahl hasn’t even cracked the top 20 list.

This is the same David Dahl that entered Friday night’s game against the San Diego Padres at Coors Field with a .330 average, good enough for fourth in the National League. It’s the same David Dahl who ranks second in Major League baseball since May 22 with a .395 average. It’s the same David Dahl who, since May 30, has gone 8-for-16 with three doubles, a triple, two homers and 12 RBI with runners in scoring position.

But there’s been more to Dahl’s play than just what you can see in the statistics. Take, for example, his second plate appearance on Friday night.

Facing San Diego starter Cal Quantrill, Dahl took a ball high, then swung at two consecutive high fastballs, missing both. Down 1-2, the next eight pitches to Dahl went foul, ball, foul, foul, foul, ball, foul and foul. On a 3-2 pitch (and the 12th pitch of the at-bat), Dahl deposited a 78-mph curveball 394 feet away into the left-center field seats to give Colorado a 2-1 lead.

“I was just grinding and trying to spoil his pitches,” a subdued Dahl said after Colorado’s extra-inning loss. “I got a curveball. I just saw it and stayed back on it.”

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He flashed his speed in his next plate appearance, nearly beating out a grounder to shortstop that drove in Charlie Blackmon for Dahl’s third RBI of the evening. It was part of a 2-for-6 night with four RBI that kept Dahl’s batting average at .330.

It wasn’t just offense on Friday night, however. Dahl also flashed the leather, making a diving catch in center field to take a hit away from Wil Myers to end the fourth and keep the Padres from temporarily tying the game.

Hitting, speed and defense … Dahl showed it all off despite a complete late-inning meltdown and baffling extra-inning defeat. Now if only some All-Star voters outside the Mountain time zone would see what Dahl is doing and realize the special season that the 25-year-old former first-round draft pick is putting together.

If you want to see Dahl in the All-Star Game, just click here and vote for him up to five times every 24 hours. He is deserving of the votes and the honor.