Analyzing the level of concern for five struggling Red Sox
By Daniel Fox
Concern levels for five struggling Red Sox
It’s been an ugly start for the 2022 Boston Red Sox. They are currently sputtering along in fourth place in the AL East at 14-22, barely ahead of the lowly Orioles. An anemic offense has struggled to score runs, and the bullpen has blown the few leads they do have.
While there have certainly been some standout performers on the Red Sox, there are more than a handful of players who have not exceeded expectations. Here are five players who have gotten off to a terrible start and whether they can turn it around.
Red Sox first baseman Bobby Dalbec
.165/.238/.253, 1 HR, 4 RBI, -0.5 WAR
It’s still early in the season, but my confidence in Bobby Dalbec is looking like my worst preseason take. Dalbec was a popular preseason pick after a tremendous finish to the 2021 season, slashing .275/.336/.580 from June 10 on. He still had a lot of swing-and-miss in his game, but he was hitting with enough power to make up for it.
This season, however, that has not been the case. What’s interesting is that his plate discipline has actually improved from last season, cutting his strikeout rate from 34.4% last season to 30.9% this season and increasing his walk rate from 6.2% to 6.9%. He’s also hitting the ball in the air more frequently, increasing his average launch angle from 17.4 degrees to 24.6 degrees.
All too often, those fly balls are lazy pop-ups rather than tape-measure home runs. His exit velocity has dropped from 92.4 mph to 89.2, and his barrel percentage has been cut nearly in half from 20.2% to 10.4%. Pitchers have also thrown him more breaking balls than ever, which Dalbec’s hits just .080 against.
The biggest reason for concern is that Dalbec has let his struggles compound. Before a slight bounceback on this road trip, Dalbec was mired in a 1-for-23 slump with 12 strikeouts and had a number of lapses in the field. Baseball is all about making adjustments, and if Dalbec can’t start putting together better at-bats, he may find his diminished role cut down even further.