FORT MYERS, Fla. — Boston Red Sox minor league outfield/base running coordinator Darren Fenster said last September that prospect Bobby Dalbec has the most power of anyone he has managed in the system.

Fenster, manager of the Portland Sea Dogs in 2018, is entering his eighth year in the organization. He said about Dalbec’s power compared to others, “It’s not even close. And that includes a guy like (Michael) Chavis or (Rafael) Devers or (Andrew) Benintendi or all these other guys we look at as power guys. If that’s not 80-raw power, I’m not sure what is.”

Dalbec – who bashed 32 homers, 35 doubles and three triples while driving in 109 runs between High-A Salem and Portland last year – is participating in his first major league spring training camp as a nonroster invitee. Boston must add him to the 40-man roster by November to protect him from the December 2019 Rule 5 Draft.

This 2019 season is an important year in the 23-year-old third baseman’s development. He’ll likely begin this regular season at Double-A Portland after he played his final 29 games there last year.

The 2016 fourth-round draft pick should be watching Red Sox power hitter J.D. Martinez very closely this spring training.

The two are similar in the way think about hitting. They both embrace advanced statistics. Dalbec has an interest in attack angle.

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“I just want to work on things so my hot streaks are longer,” Dalbec said. “Cold streaks can sometimes get a little bit long sometimes. But some of the adjustments I’m making are things that will fix that. And then just build off where I am last year. It would be nice to start out with a better first half than I did last year.”

Maybe something in Martinez’s routine could help Dalbec become more consistent. Maybe a tip from Martinez, who like Dalbec had questions in his game as a minor leaguer, could help the young prospect become a better and more consistent hitter.

Dalbec, who won the 2018 Red Sox minor league offensive and defensive Player of the Year, has been criticized for striking out too much. He punched out 176 times in 126 games at-bats last year.

Red Sox spring training camp isn’t about the veterans keeping their distance from the prospects/minor leaguers. Bobby Poyner, then a nonroster invitee in 2018, received advice from David Price last spring about his left-on-left change-up.

Chris Sale watched top prospect Darwinzon Hernandez’s live batting practice Monday.

“They know these kids are going to contribute sooner or later and be part of the equation,” Manager Alex Cora said, discussing Sale watching Hernandez. “So why not help them out right now and try to speed up their development.”

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Dalbec stands at 6-foot-4, 237 pounds. He entered spring training 2018 at approximately 230 pounds.

“I’m just trying to get better,” he said, discussing what he wants to take from his first big league spring training camp. “Just get better every day and work on a few things a day or one thing a day on each part of the game. And go to the next thing and have things compound together and just continue to become more of a complete player.”

Dalbec hit .261 with six homers, eight doubles, one triple and 24 RBI in 29 games at Portland.

Dalbec participated in the Arizona Fall League after finishing at Portland.

“It was a little bit shorter of an offseason because of the fall league,” Dalbec said. “I probably took a week off and then got back to it. But my body feels really good. Got stronger this offseason or this year coming into spring training.”

Cora said last Friday he saw Dalbec play in the 2016 College World Series finals. Dalbec played for Arizona, which lost 2-1 to Coastal Carolina in the best-of-three championship. Cora then worked as an ESPN analyst.

“I saw him on the mound,” Cora said. “I was one of those guys that thought he was going to hit the first year and then after that he was going to be on the mound. He was amazing in one of the games.”

Dalbec, a two-way player at Arizona, went 11-6 with seven saves and a 2.50 ERA in 29 outings (eight starts) for Arizona during 2016. He struck out 96 and walked 37 in 1002/3 innings.


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