If you've seen the headlines coming out of Triple-Worcester, you'd think first baseman Bobby Dalbec is starting to turn a corner.
He's seen a noticeable spike in power and the coaching staff is raving about his work ethic.
However, the 6-foot-4, 227-pound slugger has yet to solve, or even improve upon his ridiculously high strikeout rate. Dalbec played in 111 games for the Boston Red Sox this season and posted a 33% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate to go along with a .211 average with 22 extra-base hits including 11 home runs, 36 RBIs and a .644 OPS.
The Dalbec experiment hasn't been going well for a while, and despite the increase in pop, he still is making the same mistakes. In 13 games with the WooSox, Dalbec does have five home runs, eight RBIs and a .865 OPS, but he's striking out at a 29% clip with a 6% walk rate against lower-level pitching.
Until he can figure out how to put the ball in play with regularity, the rest of his game is almost irrelevant. The former Red Sox slugger has not been able to slash his strikeout-to-walk ratio down since he entered the big leagues in 2020, but he's still giving it everything he's got.
“(He’s been) tremendous," WooSox manager Chad Tracy told MassLive's Katie Morrison. "He’s unbelievable. Actually he’s in a good mood. Came in and said hi to everybody. He didn’t mope or sulk. He’s honestly the first one to show up to work. He’s out there for getting ready for the game, first guy out there. He’s been awesome.”
He's an easy guy to root for, but it's hard to envision the 27-year-old will be able to seal the hole in his bat in a single offseason.
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