Much in the same way that constantly hearing about Coors Field can be frustrating for the Colorado Rockies and their fans, the consistent caveats about David Dahl and his health have become a bit tired and worn out.
In both cases, the narrative doesn’t come completely out of the blue, of course. Coors Field is indeed an offensive haven and Dahl has indeed spent a lot of time in the doctor’s office but both situations deserve a far more nuanced and specific analysis than that.
Four completely unrelated and non-lingering issues have cost Dahl large chunks of playing time but like with any good statistic, it’s worth recognizing what, if anything, they tell us about the potential future of the player.
A leg injury cost him almost all of his second year as a pro… and he is still one of the best baserunners in the organization.
A few years later, he ended up needing to remove his spleen after a hard collision in the outfield… but didn’t miss a beat upon his return to the Hartford Yardgoats, putting up a 140 wRC+ the rest of that season.
After showing the world what he was capable of by bursting into MLB in the latter part of 2016, Dahl experienced a back/rib issue in spring training 2017 that ended up shelving him for the entire year. He did play 19 rehab games that year but simply could not get back to full strength in time to rejoin the club for the Wild Card game.
But once again, Dahl showed no ill-or-long-lasting effects from that injury, storming back in 2018, beginning the year at Triple-A before showing he was right back to being the player he was, forcing himself back into the lineup.
Then he fouled a ball off his foot and broke it.
The guy can catch the heck out of a baseball but he sure can’t catch a break.
So he missed most of the middle of the 2018 campaign and had to come back to a team very much in the hunt and, again, try to prove that he needed to be counted on despite all of his time missed.
And he did.
Earning a starting job for what must have felt like the 12th time, Dahl let his play do the talking, proving once more that though the injuries were piling up, they don’t exactly seem to be taking their toll.
He was arguably the Rockies best player in their most important games down the stretch last season, famously hitting home runs in six of the final seven regular season games (not counting 163) including five straight.
This is clearly not the story of Troy Tulowitzki’s hip or Todd Helton’s back. Each of these four occurrences not only stand as isolated incidents that couldn’t be more unlike each other, they haven’t slowed the young man down one iota. Literally or figuratively.
Like with pitcher wins or RBI or Coors Field, being aware of David Dahl’s injury history can give you some information that might be useful when compiled with other information. But in and of themselves they tell you nothing about the future.
