Bobby Dalbec 2022 Player Outlook: League-Leading Power Upside, But At What Cost?
3 years agoThere is reason for optimism with the Red Sox big man this season. The power has never been in question, and he posted an elite home run rate in 2022 (25 homers in 452 PAs). The downside thus far has been the huge strikeout problem (career 35.8% K%) that has kept his batting average in the dumps. We saw Dalbec start to slightly turn this trend around in the second half of 2021 as he struck out at a lower 28.8% clip from August 1st onward. That is still a problematic strikeout rate that is unlikely to lead to anything but a bad batting average, but there is some hope that he can hit enough homers and drive in enough runs to make that worth the trade. His 20.2% barrel rate and 115.6 max exit velocity last year leave no doubts that this guy can hit 40 homers in the show, and that's someone that is worth taking a shot at age 26 with a low ADP of 224.