Colorado Rockies: David Dahl’s injury creates opportunity for Daza
Friday night’s injury to Colorado Rockies outfielder David Dahl left a terrible feeling in the pit of all our stomachs.
After multiple injury-plagued seasons in his short career, David Dahl was finally enjoying himself a breakout season until spraining his ankle in the sixth inning on a fly ball to center field in what would be a 5-4 win for the Colorado Rockies over the San Francisco Giants. Dahl was hitting .302 with 15 home runs, 61 RBI and 67 runs scored with a .877 OPS which earned him his first-ever All-Star selection.
Even though the injury initially looked worse than what it is (an MRI-confirmed high ankle sprain), Dahl will likely miss most if not all of the remainder of the season.
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However, if there is any good news that comes from his injury it is this: It opens up a spot on the roster for one of the Rockies’ promising prospects in Triple-A Albuquerque, Yonathan Daza, to join the club.
Daza, the 25-year-old righty, had a rough two short stints in the Majors earlier this season, batting 1-for-18 with five strikeouts in six games. However, the Rockies #10 prospect, according to MLB.com, has been thriving in Triple-A Albuquerque, hitting .364 with 11 home runs, 48 RBI and 67 runs scored in 387 at-bats.
Unless there is an unforeseen comeback, currently sitting 7.5 games back of the final Wild Card spot with multiple teams ahead of them, the Rockies have little chance of making the playoffs. Daza would have likely been a September call-up when the roster expanded. Instead, the Rockies will get an extended look at one of their highly touted prospects without the added pressure of being in a playoff race.
The loss of Dahl is tough pill to swallow but it will give the Rockies an extra month to evaluate one of their prized prospects at the Major League level.