McAdam: J.D. Martinez takes top prospect Bobby Dalbec under his wing

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- As good as J.D. Martinez's first season was in Boston -- he was a legitimate Triple Crown candidate in September and somehow captured not one but two Silver Slugger awards -- not all of his contributions came on the field or between the lines.

Martinez deserves at least partial credit for the breakout season enjoyed by American League MVP Mookie Betts after Alex Cora suggested Martinez work with Betts last spring. The list of teammates who benefitted from Martinez's obsession with hitting, however, is practically endless.

This spring, Martinez has a new pupil lucky enough to have his attention. Third baseman Bobby Dalbec, cited by Baseball America as the organization's top prospect, got his first tutorial the other day. It came not on some back field or in the batting cages, but instead, in the middle of the jetBlue Park clubhouse.

Martinez doesn't need a hitting laboratory to impart his wisdom and the conversation between the two seemed to start spontaneously. Without the aid of a bat, Martinez could be seen showing Dalbec about the placement of his hands while pantomiming his swing in slow motion.

The talk continued for a few minutes, with Dalbec listening in rapt attention, eager to soak up anything from the hitting savant.

"I've watched him do some things that I've been working on,'' Dalbec said, "just to get a better idea of it. But it was pretty cool to talk about his process and physical ideas he has about getting ready to hit -- how to get in certain positions. Some things really clicked for me later, after talking to him. Nothing in the cage yet, but just talking to him was plenty enough. I'll take anything.

"It was really good stuff. It was stuff I've been working on all offseason, trying to get down and nail and I couldn't really get there. But after talking to Tim (Hyers, hitting coach) and Andy (Barkett, assistant hitting coach) and starting to add those principles in and then after hearing J.D.'s take and verbiage and language, things are already starting to click for me right now.''

The talk was arcane -- "stuff about my back foot'' -- but for young hitters seeking to correct a mechanical flaw and unlock their ability, Martinez has both the knowledge and ability to communicate the lesson, making him a natural teacher.

"It's a finer focus,'' said Dalbec of Martinez's approach, "and he made it less vague.''

When the Sox take a two-game road trip to the east coast of Florida next week, Cora plans to arrange it so Dalbec and Martinez are in the same hitting group during batting practice so that the mentoring can continue.

"That's something that makes us better,'' said Cora. "We saw what happened last year. It's something we're very proud of. I like that. The more baseball, the louder, the better.''

Cora predicted that conversation would increase when Martinez joined the Sox late last February and it didn't take long for that to happen. Martinez has the unique ability to impart his knowledge.

"He recognizes swings and he has a way of communicating what he feels in a very easy way,'' Cora said. "He's good at communicating. It's amazing. For how complicated it sounds with his swing and everything, when he talks to other hitters, he makes it very simple. That's a gift that he has.''

"When he says something,'' confirmed Dalbec, "you get it right away just because it's something you can feel right away. He'll tell you, 'Your hands should feel this on this part of your swing,' or, 'When your hands are here, your back is doing this...' and then you go right out and do it. Some things show up in flashes, but after you talk to him, you can repeat it on every swing.''

From a number of perspectives, Dalbec and Martinez represent a good fit. Both are big (Dalbec is 6-4; Martinez 6-3), powerful right-handed hitters whose power typically runs to right-center. Dalbec is intent on cutting down his strikeouts, a battle Martinez faced as recently as 2015 when he fanned 178 times with the Tigers.

"He and I kind of think the same way on certain things,'' Dalbec said. "Obviously, he's smarter and has way more experience than I do. At the same time, I can't just copy his swing. I'm not J.D.; I'm me and I have to be myself up there. But he's one of the better hitters on the planet and he's done it in both leagues and some guys can't do it. Obviously, everything's validated.''

Dalbec is likely to begin the year at Double-A Portland and while the Red Sox have a tendency of getting upper-level prospects to the big leagues without a lot of seasoning (see: Rafael Devers and Andrew Benintendi), it's likely that Dalbec won't reach the big leagues until 2020.

Then again, if Martinez's lessons are absorbed quickly at the minor league level, the student could join the teacher ahead of schedule.