Colorado Rockies’ prospect David Dahl certainly knows how to make an entrance. We reported on Sunday that Dahl had been promoted from Double-A Hartford to Triple-A Albuquerque and he wasted no time making his presence felt.
After being 42 percent better than the average hitter while in Double-A, Dahl went 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBI in his Triple-A debut. In 77 games on the season, the 22-year-old outfielder now has a slash line of .283/.370/.512 and, perhaps most impressively, an 11.6 percent walk rate. That’s more than three times higher than his walk rate from 2015 (3.6 percent) and a real positive sign moving forward.
Chris Jackson (TopesWriter) made his Purple Row debut as well after getting a chance to speak with Dahl last night. Dahl talks about playing in his new stadium, getting to play in his first true home game of the season, and, most importantly, helping the team get a win. Be sure to check it out and be on the lookout for more from Chris in the near future.
Dahl, however, was not the only Rockies’ farmhand to turn in a strong performance on Monday. It was a busy day with a full slate of seven games in the Rockies’ system. Let’s check out the rest of the day’s action.
Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes 7, El Paso Chihuahuas 2
It was a big day for all three PuRPs in the Isotopes’ starting lineup on Monday. Dahl, Tom Murphy, and Jordan Patterson combined to go 9-for-12 with two triples, two home runs, and five runs driven in. Christian Bergman also threw four scoreless innings in what will likely be his final rehab outing before rejoining the Rockies.
David Dahl (No. 2 PuRP): 3-for-5, HR, 2 RBI
Tom Murphy (No. 10 PuRP): 4-for-4, 3B, HR, 2 RBI
Jordan Patterson (No. 18 PuRP): 2-for-3, 3B, RBI, BB, K
Christian Bergman: 4 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats 3, Binghamton Mets 1
Hartford improved to 45-37 on the season behind seven strong innings from Carlos Hernandez. Jerry Vasto picked up the win for the Yard Goats with a perfect inning of relief and now has a ridiculous 1.36 ERA and 5.88 strikeout-to-walk ratio between High- and Double-A this season. It looks like the 713th overall pick in the 2014 draft (that’s the 24th round) has a real shot to make an impact at the major league level.
Ryan McMahon (No. 5 PuRP): 1-for-4, 2 K, CS
Raimel Tapia (No. 6 PuRP): 1-for-4, 2B, K
Jerry Vasto: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Matt Carasiti: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
Michael Benjamin: 3-for-3, 2B
High-A: San Jose Giants 2, Modesto Nuts 1
It was another tough day for the offensively challenged Nuts. They managed just one run on a solo home run from Max White, the only player with a multi-hit game for the club. On the bright side, Yency Almonte went the distance (eight innings) and improved his strikeout-to-walk ratio to a career best 3.54.
Forrest Wall (No. 11 PuRP): 1-for-3, BB, K
Dom Nunez (No. 13 PuRP): 0-for-4, K
Omar Carrizales (No. 26 PuRP): 0-for-4
Yency Almonte: 8 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
Low-A: Lexington Legends 9, Asheville Tourists 6
The Tourists fell behind 9-0 before rallying for six runs in the seventh and eighth innings. Six, however, is not as many as nine, and Asheville fell to 41-40 on the season. There were still positives to be found in the loss, however. Brendan Rodgers had two hits and a double to raise his batting line on the season to .296/.363/.496. He’s 8-for-17 in his last four games.
Brendan Rodgers (No. 4 PuRP): 2-for-5, 2B
Carlos Herrera (No. 29 PuRP): 0-for-5, K, E
Sam Hilliard: 1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI, BB
Short-Season A: Spokane Indians 6, Boise Hawks 3
Sixth round draft pick Willie Abreu hit his second home run in as many nights and drove in all three Hawks runs in a losing effort. Boise is off to a slow start with just six wins in their first 18 games.
Willie Abreu (2016 6th round pick): 2-for-4, HR, 3 RBI
Garrett Hampson (2016 3rd round pick): 0-for-5, 2 K
Jared Gesell (2016 23rd round pick): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Rookie: Grand Junction Rockies 7, Orem Owlz 6
The little Rockies got back to .500 on the season thanks to a walk-off double from Colton Welker. Jose Gomez’s three hits along with Ty Culbreth’s four shutout innings also helped the Rockies pick up a game in the Pioneer League standings. Gomez now has a .979 OPS with more walks than strikeouts on the young season.
Pedro Gonzalez (No. 28 PuRP): 1-for-5, K, E
Jose Gomez: 3-for-4, RBI, SB, CS
Joel Diaz: 2-for-4, RBI
Ty Culbreth (2016 8th round pick): 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
DSL: DSL Rockies 6, DSL Brewers 4
The strong start to the season continued for the DSL Rockies on Monday as they improved to 17-8 on the year. It was a team effort in this one, as seven of their nine starters reached base at least twice.
Daniel Montano (HM PuRP): 0-for-5, K
Jose Grullart: 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 K
Enrique Saldana: 2-for-4, 2 2B, SB, K
Hidekel Gonzalez: 2-for-4, E
Tuesday probables:
Triple-A: Jeff Hoffman (No. 3 PuRP)
Double-A: Alex Balog (No. 22 PuRP)
High-A: Parker French
Low-A: Devin Burke
Short-Season A: Antonio Santos
Rookie: Alejandro Requena