Bobby Dalbec is the Red Sox co-leader in home runs this spring, which, given his power, perhaps shouldn't be all that surprising. Even in limited playing time at the end of last year, Dalbec demonstrated his ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark at the big league level.
But homer totals aside, Dalbec is most pleased with the general quality of his at-bats. He's making more consistent contact and, more recently, has cut down on his strikeouts.
"I've been more pleased with how the at-bats have gone and the decisions I've made,'' he said, "and more consistency in the last four or five games, maybe. That's what I've been working toward all spring. Earlier in the spring, the swing-and-miss was more apparent. But if I can stick with what I'm doing right now, that helps.''
Alex Cora has noted that throughout his career, Dalbec has demonstrated an ability to reduce his strikeouts over time at every level.
Of late, Dalbec said he has had some success "just slowing the game down. I think that's the biggest thing. At every level, I have to find new ways to attack pitchers and how they're going to attack me. They start falling into patterns and I can start anticipating certain pitches in certain counts. Seeing these guys more and more, I'll continue to get more and more comfortable.''
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