Have yourself a debut, David Dahl.
The Colorado Rockies’ top prospect made an immediate impact on the Albuquerque Isotopes in his first Triple-A game Monday night. Dahl went 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBI, leading the home team to a 7-2 victory over El Paso.
"Let me see, he had three hits in five at-bats, the homer, made some decent catches in center field on the Fourth of July — that’s a good sign," manager Glenallen Hill said with a smile.
It was quite the introduction to 15,628 fans, the fifth largest crowd in Isotopes history.
"It was really fun, the crowd was awesome," Dahl said. "This was the first time all season playing in front of a big crowd that was actually cheering for you. So that was really cool.
"The stadium is awesome; to me it’s like a big-league stadium. And then just being able to get the win tonight was major."
Batting second and playing center field, Dahl lived up to the hype he had been building at Double-A Hartford.
"He’s a very athletic guy and he can do lots of things — he runs well, he throws well, he catches well, hit hits well — most of the guys who can do all of those things, they can make it look easy at times," Hill said.
Dahl lashed a one-out single to right field on a 1-0 count in the first inning. He then showed off his speed, easily scoring from first on Jordan Patterson’s triple off the top of the wall in right-center.
"I wasn’t really looking for certain pitches or anything," Dahl said. "I was just getting up there and trying to get ready to hit on time, see it, and take a good swing. I got some good pitches to hit and capitalized and more importantly, helped the team win."
Dahl led off the third, digging himself into a quick 0-2 hole. On the third pitch from former Pirate Daniel McCutchen, Dahl ripped a shot to right that carried out for a solo home run and a 3-0 Isotopes lead. Dahl said he wasn’t sure the ball was gone when he hit it.
"No, cause Patterson hit his earlier and thought his was gone and it hit the wall," Dahl said. "I hit mine and took off out of the box at first. I just kind of hoped it went out. It was a great feeling getting the first home run out of the way."
After grounding out to third base in the fourth, Dahl came up again in the sixth. He smoked a line-drive RBI single to center on a 2-1 pitch from reliever Leonel Campos.
The 22-year-old Dahl never showed any sign of being nervous in his first game in the Pacific Coast League.
"I was actually pretty calm," Dahl said. "I just kind of treated it as another game. Of course, we had 15,000-plus fans (so) the adrenaline was going. But I felt really calm when I stepped up to the plate."
The one remaining challenge for Dahl will be dealing with the infamous Topes Slope in center field. None of the balls hit by the Chihuahuas forced Dahl to scale the hill.
"The hill looks pretty crazy," Dahl said. "Whenever we take BP and stuff I’m going to have to go out there and check it out."
Dahl and the Isotopes will continue their series with the Chihuahuas on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.