Red Sox: Bobby Dalbec will be Boston’s breakout player of 2021

Bobby Dalbec will breakout for Red Sox in his first full season

We didn’t have much to be happy about during the 2020 baseball season, did we Red Sox Nation? One of the best players in franchise history was traded because he wanted to be paid fairly. Our two stud pitchers missed the entire year due to medical reasons. Oh, and Boston finished fourth from the bottom in the entire MLB. If I had to pick one thing that charged up the shortened campaign though, it would be the promotion of Bobby Dalbec.

The power-hitting infielder stormed onto the scene after Mitch Moreland was traded at the deadline to the Padres. Dalbec didn’t waste any time getting used to the big leagues and began smashing bombs right away. In fact, there was a point where he was sniffing Ken Griffey Jr.’s record of eight straight games with a homer, but his total ended at five. Still pretty impressive for a rookie that got a spur of the moment callup due to a deal at the trade deadline.

That was this season though and now it’s time to look toward the future. Dalbec more than earned his spot on the 40-man and will surely be in Alex Cora’s starting lineup most nights, and that could mean big things for Bobby D. Speaking of Cora, we all know the kind of effect he has on younger players and his ability to get through to them, all good signs for the infielder.

So why exactly do I think Dalbec will take 2021 and make it a year to remember? Well, there are a few factors in play here with some being tangible and others intangible. For the tangible side of the argument, we’re going to look right at his numbers from 2020. As I alluded to before, the kid went up there and mashed the hell out of the ball to the tune of a .263/.359/.600/.959 line with 8 homers and 16 RBI.

Sounds great, right? Well, it wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine as Dalbec also struck out 39 times in 92 plate appearances, for a 42% strikeout rate. Ugly strikeouts were a thing that the Red Sox did pretty often this past year. This is one of the areas that Cora can help Dalbec out in as he can work with the first baseman on being more patient at the plate while being more selective with his swings. Cutting down on his strikeouts and being far more patient at the plate can do wonders for his already strong stats.

One thing that stood out to me was the way that Dalbec rebounded after his freezing cold slump. He stormed onto the scene hot as all hell but as we’ve seen plenty of times before the league figured him out. The thing that sets him apart from other rookies that cool off in an instant is that he was able to figure out his shortcomings and correct them. Being able to see your faults and work them out in the here and now is a great ability and Bobby has that.

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One thing that may play into a successful 2021 for the youngster will be which corner of the infield he’ll be calling home. Dalbec is predominantly a third baseman but has the job at first locked up. There have been some whispers that Rafael Devers may get the bump over to first in order to cut down on his errors, which makes plenty of sense to me. Plug Raffy over at first where he becomes far less of a liability and slide Dalbec back to his more natural position.

I truly feel that Dalbec will live up to the hype in his first full season and can avoid the shortcomings other rookies may walk into. Look no further than Michael Chavis. The Ice Horse was a bolt of lightning when he was first called up in April of 2019 but would soon get figured out by the opposition. Fast-forward to 2020 and he was a non-factor at the plate or in the field. Bobby has already had a decent slump during this past year so I hope he got it out of his system nice and early.

He’s got charisma, great power with his bat, and can play defense like nobody’s business. If he sits under the Cora mentoring tree like his infield comrades, he has all the tools to become a superstar. We’ve already seen his work ethic on display and with the ultimate goal of being an everyday Major League player within his grasp, he’s going to kick things into overdrive.

The Red Sox are going to be busy this season but one thing we know for sure is that Bobby Dalbec will be in Alex Cora’s lineup for 2021. Like other young players before him, he’s poised to be the next big star for this Boston team and has a great opportunity to break out next year. Whether it’s at first base or third, he should see action on a nightly basis.