Bobby Dalbec had no time to celebrate the big news he received Sunday morning.
Dalbec was called up by the Red Sox mere hours before Boston’s series finale against the Washington Nationals at Fenway Park. The move was made immediately after the Red Sox traded Mitch Moreland to the San Diego Padres in exchange for two prospects.
The 25-year-old was summoned to Boston upon receiving “the call,” and was set to start at first base as long as he made it to the ballpark on time. Dalbec arrived to Fenway with little time to spare, but the lack of a thorough warmup didn’t seem to affect the young slugger, who went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run in his big league debut, which concluded with a 9-5 Red Sox win.
Dalbec, as you can imagine, was happy to contribute in his first game with Boston.
“It feels great,” Dalbec told NESN’s Guerin Austin after the game. “It was kind of a crazy day. Kind of a fire drill, honestly. I found out at 11 a.m. this morning, drove up here. So I was just glad to be able to get in there today.”
Dalbec admitted the hectic hour-plus span before first pitch Sunday didn’t allow him to let his emotions sink in. He believes that might have been to his benefit, however.
“I’m kind of glad it worked out the way it did,” Dalbec said. “I got here about 40 minutes before the game, hit in the cage and ran a couple sprints and went out there.”
With a role now open with the Red Sox, we have a feeling we’ll be seeing plenty more of Dalbec over the course of the remainder of the season and beyond.
Here are some more notes from Red Sox-Nationals:
— While Dalbec understandably garnered the bulk of the attention Sunday, Rafael Devers was Boston’s true offensive star in the series finale. The third basemen went 4-for-4 with two home runs and three RBIs. Devers hit his second home run of the game — a solo shot in the eighth inning — on the 10th pitch of the at-bat. It marked the longest at-bat of the 23-year-old’s young career.
— The Red Sox received a great collective outing from their bullpen after starter Zack Godley allowed five earned runs on eight hits over 4 2/3 innings. Josh Osich, Josh Taylor, Ryan Brasier and Austin Brice combined to only allow three hits and two walks over the game’s final 4 1/3 innings.
Boston manager Ron Roenicke tipped his cap to the bullpen after the game.
“Outstanding job from them. Guys are coming in and getting big outs. They’re giving us the innings we’re trying to cover for the starters. All of them are doing the job we need them to do…”
— Dalbec became just the 10th player in Red Sox history to homer in a MLB debut. The last player to accomplish the feat was Daniel Nava in 2010.
— Moreland took to Instagram to express his appreciation for the Red Sox and their fans.
— The Red Sox hadn’t won a series since early August prior to this weekend against the reigning World Series champions.