Dalbec breaks out to earn weekly honor

Despite posting a .190 average through his first 21 games of 2019, it was likely just a matter of time until Bobby Dalbec put it all together and looked like the hitter he's been through his first three professional seasons.

That time has come.

Boston's third-ranked prospect was named the Eastern League Offensive Player of the Week after going 8-for-16 (.500) with four homers, a triple, a double, two walks, seven RBIs and five runs scored over four games for Double-A Portland from May 6-12. It is the fifth career Minor League Player of the Week honor for Dalbec, and his first with the Sea Dogs.

The 23-year-old's 1.438 slugging percentage last week was tops in all the Minors. He entered the week slugging .318 and saw that percentage soar to .495 after his power surge.

"The power's going to be there regardless, whether I'm striking out a lot or not striking out a lot," Dalbec told MiLB.com's Jordan Wolf last week. "I think the home runs will come. So, I'm just working on being more consistent each day and each at-bat."

Dalbec opened the week with his first triple of the season against New Hampshire. He also worked a walk in that game and drove in two runs. The 2016 fourth-rounder followed that up with his second three-hit effort of the year, including a go-ahead two-run blast in the eighth inning that provided the difference for Portland.

After a hitless night Thursday, the Arizona product finished the week with a milestone effort on Saturday. Dalbec clubbed three dingers, doubled, walked, drove in three runs and scored four times.

• View the Pitcher of the Week winners >>

"It's always nice to have a good individual performance ... that's all you really can do, is try your best to help the team win every pitch and every at-bat," Dalbec said after Saturday's game. "Obviously, it [stinks] that we had a tough loss. [Portland reliever Jordan Weems] looked pretty good, just things kind of weren't working his way, I guess. They had some good two-strike hits, two very clutch hits. That's kind of the way the ball rolls sometimes."

The third baseman finished last season with the Sea Dogs and hit .261/.323/.514 with 15 extra-base hits, 24 RBIs and 14 runs scored over 29 games -- after playing his first 100 contests of 2018 with Class A Advanced Salem.

Combined, Dalbec finished the year with a career-best 32 homers, 109 RBIs and 73 runs scored. He was named a Post-Season All-Star and Most Valuable Player with Salem while also earning Player of the Week honors twice. At the end of the year, he was named an MiLB.com Organization All-Star for Boston.

Dalbec busted onto the scene his rookie year with Class A Short Season Lowell, where he posted a .386/.427/.674 slash line with seven dingers, 13 doubles, 33 RBIs and 25 runs scored over 34 games for the Spinners. He was named New York-Penn League Player of the Week twice that season as well.

Below is the complete list of Minor League Offensive Players of the Week for May 6-12:

League	Player	Team	MLB	Stats
International	Austin Riley	Gwinnett	ATL	.296/.406/.778, 7 G, 8-for-32, 1 2B, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 5 R, 5 BB, 5 K
Pacific Coast	Jacob Wilson	Fresno	WSH	.448/.515/.759, 7 G, 13-for-29, 3 2B, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 6 R, 4 BB, 6 K
Eastern	Bobby Dalbec	Portland	BOS	.500/.556/1.438, 4 G, 8-for-16, 1 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 5 R, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 SB
Southern	Dalton Kelly	Montgomery	TB	.588/.741/.941, 7 G, 10-for-17, 3 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 6 R, 7 BB, 5 K
Texas	Abraham Toro	Corpus Christi	HOU	.381/.519/.714, 6 G, 8-for-21, 1 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 3 R, 6 BB, 4 K
California	Esteury Ruiz	Lake Elsinore	SD	.389/.450/.722, 6 G, 7-for-18, 0 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 SB, 1 CS
Carolina	Zach Remillard	Winston-Salem	CWS	.556/.619/.889, 5 G, 10-for-18, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 4 R, 3 BB, 5 K
Florida State	Julio Rodriguez	Palm Beach	STL	.533/.529/1.067, 4 G, 8-for-15, 2 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 R, 1 BB, 0 K
Midwest	D.C. Arendas	Burlington	LAA	.381/.480/1.000, 6 G, 8-for-21, 0 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB, 9 K
South Atlantic	Ian Dawkins	Kannapolis	CWS	.556/.613/.778, 7 G, 15-for-31, 3 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 8 R, 4 BB, 3 K, 1 SB