Down: Red Sox first-baseman Bobby Dalbec
I’m going from one powerhouse to another here but we’re going to be talking about a much different story. This one is a bummer for me because I was ready to drive the Bobby Dalbec War Wagon right to the Commissioner’s Trophy. However, through the first week of the season, the big first baseman has been a massive disappointment. Granted, it’s the first week of his true rookie season but with how he finished 2020 and performed in spring training, there were some lofty goals for Dalbec in 2021.
The story with Bobby D will always be written around the strikeouts. For is hard and far as he can hit a baseball he sure as hell can miss ’em just as often. In fact, he’s had just 19 plate appearances so far this season and has struck out in nearly half of them with 7 whiffs. I wouldn’t be as worried if he had a few more hits scattered in between getting sat down but he has just a pair through five games.
Dalbec quickly became the heir-apparent at first base and that prophecy was sealed when Mitch Moreland was traded at last year’s deadline. He’d play out the final month of the season to the tune of a .263/.359/.600/.959 line with 8 homers and 16 RBI.
At one point he even set the rookie record for consecutive games with a homer with five in a row. He’d follow that up with a .298/.377/.787/1.165 spring training mark blasting 7 homers and bringing in 16 runs.
Sadly, he’s only hitting .111/.158/.111/.269 with zero homers, zero RBI, and just a single walk, and that’s why he’s on my down list for week one.