DENVER – Imagine spending your entire life in pursuit of a dream job then achieving that dream after years hard work and tough breaks only to realize everything you did to get you there may not be enough to keep you there.
That’s where David Dahl found himself in September 2018.
Two years removed from taking the big stage by storm with an MLB record-matching 17-game hit streak – matching an MLB record – Dahl was fighting for a starting gig with veterans Carlos Gonzalez and Gerardo Parra after another unfortunate injury.
And, it turns out, his strong finish that became a blistering finish that featured him hitting home runs in six of the final seven games of the year wasn’t just a bit of catching lightning in a bottle, but the result of an old-school adjustment he made at the plate.
It’s something every little leaguer is taught and few big leaguers employ; He began to choke up.
“I was trying not to swing and miss so much,” he told BSN Denver. “I still am more than I want,” he added. “I need to do whatever I can to get that down. My goal is to get as many barrels as I can.”
The art of adjusting your hand placement up and down the bat based on the pitcher or situation is as old as the game itself… though it is becoming a lost one.
“If a guy is throwing hard,” Dahl says, “he is going to supply the power so I’m just trying to touch it. A lot of times when you see misses, guys are usually just a touch late so you feel like you have to swing hard to catch up. So I like choking up. It feels good, it helps me see the ball deeper.”
Once again, he was sidelined with an injury this season, Dahl hasn’t been able to catch a break on that front, but each and every time he steps on the diamond, he finds a way to make himself a weapon.
He picked up right where he left off, hammering three doubles in his first two games back with the big league club.
He has been the Rockies most consistent hitter by plate appearance so far in 2019, sporting a .349 batting average at the time of this article’s publication.
He, along with fellow returning youngster Ryan McMahon, represent not only a potential huge momentum boost but also the overall potential of this lineup.
It became clear when the team didn’t bring back veterans like DJ LeMahieu and Carlos Gonzalez, that they would be counting on these guys.
Dahl, in particular, was a favorite pick here at BSN to challenge for his first All-Star game this season. And if he can stay on the field and keep up this type of production, he is well on his way.
And what adjustments like the decision to choke up show is that he is not satisfied with being merely good but he yearns to be great.
Shortly after we had this conversation, he stepped out onto the field and cracked the first two hits his club could manage against Dodgers’ ace Walker Buehler, including launching his second home run in as many days. And he did so, while choked up on the bat.
“It’s funny,” he said after the game, “I was up there telling myself not to swing at the high fastball, just stay off it. Then he threw one up there and I guess I just knew I could get to it.”
He got to it and he pelted it. And his new adjustment that is as old as the game itself, helped him get there.
