One year ago Bobby Dalbec was living an unorthodox life at Fenway Park. Maybe not 2020 unorthodox, but certainly a bit out of the norm.
He would show up at Fenway Park a bit earlier than most and jump in the hitting cages with then-Red Sox assistant hitting coach Andy Barkett or hitting coach Tim Hyers. Dalbec wasn't on any roster, living life as a visitor who had to make sure he was done his work before the real big-league ballplayers started doing their things.
"We got to spend so much time on him, one-on-one time," said Barkett toward the conclusion of the 2019 season. "He's a really smart kid and communicates really well so in that time you're able to go back and forth and talk through things. The adjustments he made while he made when he was here was really cool. Tim, him and I started a texting thread and so we're going to keep in touch throughout as he prepares for the Premier 12 (tournament). But I thought it was huge.
"These were like private lessons every day. It was a week's worth of Bobby Dalbec and us. Spring training it's transient. You have one guy in and one guy out. This was complete focus and we were able to prepare for it before he got here."
Dalbec has come a long way without really going anywhere at all.
The first baseman's lot in life was put on display Saturday night when he came away with two hits, including his second home run of the season during what would end up as the Red Sox' 9-8 walk-off win over the Blue Jays.
The student hasn't exactly become the master quite yet -- with the righty hitter still just 4-for-22 with 12 strikeouts (swinging and missing on 45 percent of his offerings) -- but the steps have started going in the right direction once again.
"I think I did a better job handling it than I have in the past," Dalbec said of his struggles. "Obviously it was pretty tough but I just tried to stay mentally tough and grind through it. Those things happen. Not the last time something like that is going to happen so I just have to get better with dealing with it and getting ahead of it quicker."
"Yeah, huge for him," said Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke. "He's been battling and frustrated and then he comes through with a nice home run and it's just, this is a strange game where you can feel really bad and then the next thing you know, you're a hero, so good to see him get that. Hopefully that relaxes him some."
There were plenty of other positives emanating from the Red Sox' most recent win.
J.D. Martinez homered, as did Jackie Bradley Jr. (Speaking of Bradley Jr, since Aug. 14 he is hitting .297 with a .965 OPS. During that stretch he is also 7-for-14 against lefties.)
Christian Vazquez also had three hits, scoring the winning run after a ninth-inning single and stolen base.
And Alex Verdugo kept hitting, boosting his batting average to .313 with two more hits.
But it is Dalbec who most will be watching the closest. He doesn't have to have it all figured out this season, but by the time 2021 rolls around there won't be anymore easing into life as the Red Sox' starting first baseman.
"It felt good," he said. "I just made a couple of tweaks, timing stuff, and stopped pressing a little bit. It felt good to get that one today."
