26 David Dahl LF

Dahl, who is on the 7-day disabled list at Triple-A Albuquerque with back spasms, said last week that he doesn't expect to swing a bat again until December, Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post reports.

After hitting .315 with seven home runs and five steals in 237 plate appearances during his first taste of the big leagues last season, Dahl was expected to cement himself as an everyday player for the Rockies in 2017. That never came to fruition, however, as the 23-year-old suffered a stress reaction injury to his rib in spring training, which prevented him from playing in minor-league rehab games until mid-July. He only ended up appearing in 17 contests in total before he was shut down July 31 with the back issues, prompting the Rockies to throw in towel on Dahl returning this season. The Rockies are hoping that some extended time off for rest will be exactly what Dahl needs to heal up and put himself in position to challenge for a full-time role with the big club heading into next spring.

Dahl was placed on the disabled list with Triple-A Albuquerque on Wednesday due to back spasms, Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post reports.

It's unclear what caused the issue, but it's a disappointing development nonetheless for the young outfielder who already missed the first half of the season with a stress reaction in his ribs. It's unclear how severe this injury is, although with much of 2017 already lost, it wouldn't be too surprising for the Rockies to play things very safely in this instance. Prior to getting hurt, Dahl mustered just a .243/.274/.414 slash line in 70 at-bats with the Isotopes.

Dahl (ribs) was reinstated from the 60-day disabled list and optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque on Wednesday.

As expected, the young outfielder will head to the minors to continue developing after missing much of the season due to a stress reaction in his rib cage. Dahl is 5-for-18 with a triple in five games with the Isotopes this year, but given his .859 OPS in the majors last season, it's possible that he could punch his ticket to the majors when rosters expand in September even though the Rockies are hesitant to rush him back to Denver after missing such a big chunk of time.

Rockies manager Bud Black reported Monday that Dahl (ribs) may not rejoin the Rockies this season, Nick Groke of the Denver Post reports.

Dahl recently began a minor-league rehab assignment with Triple-A Albuquerque and was presumably gearing up towards rejoining the big-league club in the next couple of weeks. It appears that the Rockies have other plans for the toolsy outfielder and are in no rush to usher him back to the majors. In an interview Monday, Black stated that "[Dahl] didn't have spring training. This fella has to get at-bats. So he will stay down [at Triple-A] for awhile to get some at-bats." Fantasy owners had hoped that the 23-year-old could provide value in the near future, but it sounds like this may be a lost season for Dahl.

Dahl (ribs) went 2-for-6 with an RBI in a rehab game with Triple-A Albuquerque on Sunday.

Dahl played the last two days with Albuquerque after playing two games with High-A Lancaster, and he went a combined 6-for-17 (.353) over those four contests. His bat looks good to go, and he figures to join the big club in the near future once the Rockies determine he has his playing legs under him.