After an ugly start to the season, Bobby Dalbec is heating up in a big way.
Dalbec, a power-hitting infielder considered by many to be a top-five prospect for the Boston Red Sox, began the year by hitting .197 in April. Considering his reputation for swinging and missing as often as he hits mammoth homers, Dalbec’s early season struggles shouldn’t have come as a surprise.
Since then, however, Dalbec has been on an absolute tear.
Punctuated by his three-homer performance for the Portland Sea Dogs on Saturday, the 23-year-old has raised his season average to .248 to go along with six homers, 20 RBIs and 30 strikeouts.
Check out Dalbec’s second and third homers from Portland’s 5-3 loss to the Binghamton Mets in the videos below:
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(You can click here to watch Dalbec’s homers if the videos embedded above don’t work.)
Yeah, that’s some serious power.
Here’s some additional context on Dalbec’s recent surge, courtesy of SoxProspects.com’s Chris Hatfield and Ian Cundall:
Oh hey Bobby Dalbec. Dude gets hot quick.
Last 6: 10 for 22, 1 3B, 4 HR, 3 K
Previous 10: .182/.308/.242, 2 2B, 13 K in 39 PA (33%)— Chris Hatfield (@SPChrisHatfield) May 12, 2019
#RedSox 3B prospect Bobby Dalbec is 4/5 with three home runs tonight for Double-A Portland. Over his last 10 games Dalbec is hitting .343 with four home runs. In that time he has raised his season average up to .248 after hitting only .197 in April.
— Ian Cundall (@IanCundall) May 12, 2019
As for when Red Sox fans can expect to see Dalbec in Boston, your guess is as good as ours.
Despite showing flashes of brilliance in Spring Training, Dalbec still is a work in progress on defense, whether he’s playing third base or first. And while his approach at the plate has matured since he was taken in the fourth round of the 2016 draft, Dalbec still racks up strikeouts at a rate that’s egregious even by today’s free-swinging standards.
Still, people said similar things about Michael Chavis a year ago, and look how that turned out.
