The Chicago White Sox continue to find players off the free-agent scrap heap in hopes of returning them to something of value.
This time the White Sox hope they can revive Bobby Dalbec's once-promising career on the Southside.
The Chicago White Sox have agreed to terms with INF Bobby Dalbec on a minor-league contract which includes a non-roster invite to Spring Training.
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) January 7, 2025
He joins Cal Mitchell, Andre Lipcius, and Nick Maton as former promising players in a team's system that just never quite panned out.
However, Dalbec did look like a rising star in Boston in 2021 when he hit a career-high 25 dingers in 2021 along with an insane .494 slugging percentage that season.
His power completely disappeared following the 2022 season as Dalbec has hit just two home runs since then. Dalbec hit his only blast of the season against White Sox pitcher Nick Nastrini.
Dalbec was downright awful in 2024 with a 133/.217/.193 slash line and a OPS+ of 16. The league average is 100.
He was so bad that he got outrighted off the roster and sent to the minors. Dalbec elected free agency after the season to see if he can revive his career away from the only organization he has ever known.
Now the White Sox will see if they can figure out what happened to his ability to hit the ball hard.
He went from having average exit velocities that were over 90 mph between 2021-2023 to just 86 in 2024. It is also strange to see his slash lines against fastballs, off-speed, and breaking balls vary. Last year, he could not hit any of those pitches. In 2023, he could not hit fastballs but could hit off-speed and breaking stuff. In 2022, fastballs he could touch, but not the off-speed or breaking balls.
His decline from 2022 has been a curious one. Former teammate Will Middlebrooks theorized that it could be his mental approach to the game.
"He's a really smart guy and I think sometimes that can really hurt you as a hitter," Middlebrooks said. "Because you just overthink and overthink and overthink, especially when you're a guy like him, who can do it, but at the big league level, the results haven't been there at all. He's a thinker in a lot of aspects of life and that's great. But as a hitter, it's not."
Dalbec has produced in the minors, so you got to wonder if it is all in his head. Plus, he has had success in the majors. Maybe he is just putting too much pressure on himself.
Hopefully, all the White Sox want him to do is hit home runs and that could get things turned around.
They could use his ability to produce instant offense and power is something that is lacking on this team. If that works out, the Sox will have a player, who despite being in his 30s, will still be under club control. If it does not work out, well, it is just a one-year deal.
Completely expect Bobby Dalbec to hit like 6 dingers this spring, only to hit ~.197/.260/.350 in April prior to getting DFA'd in early May
— whitesoxdave (@barstoolWSD) January 7, 2025
Dalbec can play first and third base along with the outfield in the pinch. The best way to get the most out of him is to ask him to hit home runs because he is going to strikeout--a lot.
If the team sets the expectation that they are fine with all the K's so long as he hit bombs, that could be a step in the right direction.