Dahl takes big step forward

David Dahl joined a slew of teammates Thursday morning at the Rockies’ spring training complex at Salt River Fields for an offseason session that included stretching, sprinting, throwing and lifting weights. Then Dahl grabbed a bat and began hitting baseballs off a tee. No big deal, right? Wrong. It was the first time Dahl had swung a bat since July 31, when a painful and persistent injury shut down his season.

“That was nice, just being a ballplayer again,” the outfielder said from his home in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Last spring, Dahl suffered a stress-reaction injury to a rib and played in just two Cactus League games before he was shut down. The pain and tenderness in his upper back, near where the rib connects with the spine, flared up whenever he started swinging a bat.

However, an MRI in November confirmed that the injury had finally healed, so he felt pretty confident that he was good to go.

“It was great. I felt really good,” Dahl said. “I wasn’t really nervous. I felt that with the time off and the work that I have put in, that I would be pretty strong. This time, I felt like I was really, really ready to go. I wasn’t hesitant or worried. That’s different than in the past, because last season I would swing and begin to feel it.”

If Dahl stays healthy and plays well in the spring, he could provide a big boost to a Colorado offense that last season was at times powerful, and at times maddeningly inconsistent.

Dahl made his big-league debut July, 25, 2016, and made an immediate impact. He batted .315 — banging out 50 hits in 63 games for a .315 average — with seven home runs, 12 doubles, four triples and 24 RBIs.

But 2017 was a lost season. Dahl played in only 19 minorleague games, batting .260 with three home runs in 82 plate appearances.