Bobby Dalbec’s performances in far-off lands have turned heads closer to home.
Boston Red Sox general manager Brian O’Halloran told The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey on Wednesday the prospect’s performances for the U.S. baseball team this month at the Premier12 Tournament have impressed him and other officials with the big-league club. Dalbec has hit .300 in five games with a monster grand slam and another home run at the first qualifying event for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and his play for Team USA has strengthened the Red Sox’s conviction that he can be a valuable contributor in the coming years.
“The performance has been really good,” O’Halloran said Tuesday at the MLB GM Meetings.” The reports have been great. He’s a really good player and we expect him to be a big part of our future, so we look forward to him being with us again in big-league camp and go from there.”
Dalbec hit .257 with seven home runs and 16 RBIs in 30 games in 2019 with Triple-A Pawtucket. He hit .234 with 20 home runs and 57 RBIs with Double-A Portland last season prior to his promotion.
The 24-year-old’s body type and approach to hitting have made him one of Boston’s most highly regarded prospects and also drawn comparisons to former Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals star Scott Rolen.
Although Dalbec looks set to participate in Red Sox spring training next year, newly installed chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom isn’t ready to promise him a spot on Boston’s roster in 2020.
“I think for the most part, especially with more advanced players, you don’t want to make too many predeterminations,” Bloom said. “Especially for me that I’m getting my arms around the history of the player and everything he can do and where he’s at in his development.”
Dalbec must keep improving and impressing in order to establish himself in Boston and perhaps compete for the American League Rookie of the Year award, as suggests he might do in 2020.
