Thanks to trades that brought in the likes of Chris Sale, Drew Pomeranz, Craig Kimbrel, and Tyler Thornburg, a lot has been made of the Red Sox’s depleted farm system.
However, that’s not entirely true. While the Red Sox only have one prospect—Michael Chavis—in MLB Pipeline’s Top-100 prospects, Bobby Dalbec seems to be the next closest to cracking the list. The Red Sox drafted the University of Arizona in the fourth round of the 2016 draft and has done nothing but mash baseballs since then.
Currently stationed with the Portland Sea Dogs, Dalbec has a slash-line of .267/.340/.570, which is good for an OPS of .910. Even though it’s just a small sample size of Double-A experience—just 23 games—the third baseman has put up pretty much an equally as impressive slash-line in his 123 games played this season in the minor leagues. He’s slashing .258/.366/.572 in those games. On top of that, he’s drilled 32 home runs and knocked in 104 runs between Salem and Portland.
His strikeout numbers are less than impressive, however—Dalbec has 164 strikeouts in 2018 alone. But, in a game we see on a nightly basis nowadays, it’s boom or bust with most sluggers.
It’s Dalbec’s raw power that makes him such an intriguing prospect to keep tabs on. The Red Sox have Rafael Devers as the third baseman of the future, but if Dalbec continues progressing the way he has in his first two full seasons of professional baseball, he could realistically make the baby-faced fan-favorite expendable.
Regardless, it just goes to show that just because a guy isn’t as highly-touted at his position as the likes of Vlad Guerrero Jr., Nick Senzel, or even fellow organizational prospect, Michael Chavis, it doesn’t mean he’s not an emerging young phenom.
If you can hit home runs at the rate Dalbec does, there’s more than likely a place for you in the major leagues. So don’t be deceived by only having one top-100 prospect, as the Red Sox still have a plethora of young talent down in the farm.
