Rockies outfielder David Dahl ties franchise record hit streak

Dahl triples his way into franchise history | MLB.com

Probably the best news from the game last night, David Dahl continues to marvel onlookers with his MLB success. Dahl went into his eighth inning at bat 0-for-3 on the night, his 15-game hit streak hanging in the balance, with the Rockies down 3-1. He laced a two-seam fastball into the right field corner to score two and extend his hit streak to 16 games, tied for the longest hit streak to begin a career in franchise history, one off the major league record set in 1941 by Chuck Aleno.

In the piece Harding points out two key pieces of evidence of Dahl’s development so far in the bigs. First, the hit came off lefty Jake Diekman, which makes Dahl 7-for-14 against left-handed pitchers early in his career. Second, Dahl already faced Diekman on Monday, earning a single off a slider. From Harding’s piece:

Figuring Diekman would try to beat him with a two-seam fastball inside, Dahl waited for the pitch and roped it into the right-field corner. The hit made Dahl, who would later score on Ryan Raburn's sacrifice fly, 7-for-14 with three RBIs against lefty pitching.

"I just stick to my approach, which is usually just up the middle," Dahl said. "But I had a feeling how he was going to pitch me."

Not every prospect has this level of success upon his debut; MLB.com’s no. 1 prospect Alex Bregman took over a week to get his first MLB hit. And a slump is almost certainly in the future for Dahl and is .476 BABIP. But there is a process for Dahl, a plan when he steps to the plate. That tells me that, six long years after he was drafted, Dahl is a better bet than many to have long term success.

Can’t we just pretend the game ended after Dahl scored?

Adam Ottavino embraces closer’s role for Rockies, 15 months after Tommy John surgery | Denver Post

Patrick Saunders spoke with Adam Ottavino before yesterday’s game about the journey back to the closer role. Even with the success and talent Ottavino has it is still pretty incredible that he’s made it back to this point. There are so many success stories out there now that Tommy John surgery feels like just a year off and you’re back, which undersells just how difficult it is to rehab and get back to the point of being a top of the line pitcher again.

“The stress has already been there, and I’ve already pitched in close games in the seventh and eighth innings,” he said. “If anything, closing is even more regimented. I won’t be throwing one-plus (innings), just the ninth.

Well ... I said we’d try to avoid talking about the recent unpleasantness.

Stellar Tyler Anderson leaving rocky history behind | BSN Rockies

Tyler Anderson has been getting a lot of attention recently (Fangraphs “didn’t compare” compared him to Clayton Kershaw, Today’s Knuckleball gave us some history, and Statcast/MLB.com dug into the numbers of what’s been so impressive about his season thus far). Over at BSN Rockies, Nick Tremaroli weighs in one just how surprising it is that he’s come this far. Anderson is scheduled to toe the rubber again on Saturday in Philadelphia.

Nolan Arenado Back on Hot Streak to Pace Colorado Offense | Roxpile

Kevin Henry of Roxpile draws attention to a little fact that might have been lost in the shuffle of the late losses and the emergence of David Dahl: Nolan is raking.