You’re reading the 2018 edition of Ranking the Rockies, where we take a look back at the season had by every player to play for the Rockies in 2018. The purpose of this list is to provide a snapshot of the player in context. The “Ranking” is an organizing principle that’s drawn from Baseball Reference’s WAR (rWAR). It’s not something the staff debated. We’ll begin with the player with the least amount of rWAR and end up with the player with the most.
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No. 15, David Dahl (0.6 rWAR)
After missing all of 2017 and a significant portion of the 2018 season with injuries, David Dahl became a key part of the Rockies lineup during their stretch run.
Dahl played in 77 games this season, missing more than two months with a broken foot suffered at the end of May. In his 271 plate appearances, he hit .273/.325/.534 with 16 home runs and 48 driven in. His .859 OPS exactly matched what he did in 237 plate appearances with the Rockies in 2016.
Where Dahl really made an impact was in September. He started 21 games in the season’s final month, hitting .287/.330/.655 with 9 home runs in 87 at bats. The Rockies went 16-5 in Dahl’s September starts (numbers include the NL West tiebreaker on October 1.) Prior to the NL West tiebreaker in Los Angeles, Dahl homered in six of the final seven scheduled regular season games, including this titanic blast against former Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta:
4 days, 4 homers for David Dahl.
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) September 27, 2018
The Rockies are coming for the postseason.
(via @Rockies) pic.twitter.com/bnyYYfl7BE
Rockies manager Bud Black seemed to put his faith in Dahl when he was available this season, hitting him in the top four of the order in 38 of his 59 starts. Dahl also put in some of his best performances hitting high in the order — in fact he hit seven home runs and posted a 1.112 OPS in 13 games batting third.
Unfortunately, what was overall a positive season for Dahl ended on a sour note as he went 0-for-11 with three strikeouts in the postseason and was benched in favor of Gerardo Parra in Games 2 and 3 of the NLDS.
Despite the rough postseason, Dahl looks to be penciled in for a starting job in the Rockies outfield in 2019, especially with Parra and Carlos Gonzalez hitting free agency this winter.