Arenado hoping addition of Dahl helps give offense a jump-start

Third baseman says outfielder “brings some power behind me”

MIAMI » Nolan Arenado was in an excellent mood before Friday night’s game against the Marlins.

Maybe it had to do with the Latin vibe of this city. After all, Arenado’s father, Fernando, was born in Cuba, and his mother, Millie, has family roots in Puerto Rico.

Or perhaps it had to with the third baseman’s belief that the Rockies’ offense is ready, finally, to shift into a higher gear. Colorado entered the game batting just .230 as a team, 11th in the National League.

“I think this lineup has the potential to be very good,” said Arenado, who entered the game hitting .342, second in the National League, and was tied for second with 10 multi-hit games. “That’s easy to say, so we have to go out and prove it. Because I think the best teams don’t rely on just the homer. So for us to get there, we can’t rely on just the big swings.”

Friday night, outfielder David Dahl hit behind Arenado in the cleanup spot for the third time in five games since getting called up from Triple-A Albuquerque. Arenado, who bats third, likes the versatility Dahl brings to the lineup. Dahl entered the game batting 5for-16 (.313) with two triples.

“He’s a lefty and he brings some power behind me,” Arenado said, while also making sure to praise Carlos Gonzalez and Gerardo Parra. “I like that David’s not just about power, he can use the whole field and he can get his base hits and knocks. That’s kind of what our lineup needs. We need someone who can get something going. He can obviously clip you with a homer once in a while, but at the end of the day he’s going to give you a quality at-bat and get on base.

“Sometimes our lineup relies (too much) on homers and the big innings, and I think his at-bats makes our lineup a little bit better.”

Manager Bud Black also likes having Dahl’s left-handed bat in the order behind the right-handed Arenado.

“He’s done good work so far, in a very small sample size,” Black said.

Theoretically, the addition of Dahl also makes Colorado’s lineup more productive, from top to bottom. Friday, shortstop Trevor Story hit fifth, followed by Parra, first baseman Ian Desmond and catcher Chris Iannetta.

“With this group of players, we should have a deep lineup,” Black said. “When you have a Desi (Ian Desmond) or a (Gerardo) Parra or a (Chris) Iannetta near the bottom of the order, potentially, those are veteran, big-league hitters who have proven that they can do some damage. When they get swinging, that’s what we are looking for.”

As for Arenado, he’s not jumping for joy over his start, despite his high average, four homers and 12 RBIs coming into the weekend.

“I’m happy with (my approach), but obviously I want to drive the ball out a little bit more,” he said. “That’s just me being selfish. But I think I’ve been having some good at-bats and I’ve been walking a lot late. I feel like Votto, so that”s pretty cool.”

Votto is Cincinnati all-star slugger Joey Votto, who’s renowned for his home runs and high onbase percentage.

Arenado entered Friday’s game with 12 walks, tied for the team lead, and an on-base percentage of .437, which is far above his career OBP of .343.