May Players of the Month: Bobby Dalbec and Grant Gambrell

Bobby Dalbec and Grant Gambrell have been named the SoxProspects.com Player and Pitcher of the month, respectively, for May. Dalbec (pictured, top) secured the award over the likes of Niko Kavadas and Brainer Bonaci, while Gambrell (pictured, bottom) beat out ex-teammates Isaac Coffey and Angel Bastardo, as well as Jose Ramirez.

Dalbec has only spent about a week in the big leagues this season after staying out of Worcester for all of 2021 and most of 2022. However, he's made the most of his time in Triple-A this season, with a .298/.412/.638 line, including a 154 wRC+ that is good for seventh in the International League. The 27-year-old stepped it up in May, with a .362/.463/.768 slash line. He led the organization in batting average and slugging percentage and was second in on-base percentage to create an OPS that was nearly 200 points better than anybody else, while he also shared the home run lead with Kavadas. However, he still struck out 24 times to just nine walks.

A fourth-round pick back in 2016 out of Arizona, Dalbec was a two-way player for the Wildcats but preferred to hit. He possesses light-tower power with defensive versatility, but hasn't been able to cut down on the swing-and-miss in his game for an extended period of time. With the acquisition of Pablo Reyes earlier in May and the presence of Triston Casas at first, Dalbec seems blocked to return to Boston for the time being in the absence of injuries.

As for Gambrell, he parlayed a strong start in Greenville to a mid-month promotion to Double-A Portland, making two starts for the Drive and three for the Sea Dogs. He didn't miss a beat with the uptick in competition, as he allowed just one run in each of his outings for a minuscule 1.62 ERA and 0.90 WHIP. These terrific starts pushed his season numbers down to a 3.75 ERA and 1.23 WHIP, with 51 strikeouts in 48 innings. Gambrell was second in the organization in ERA in the month of May, owned the lead in WHIP and was third in OPS against.

The Red Sox acquired the 25-year-old in June 2021 as part of the Andrew Benintendi trade and didn't pitch at the end of 2021 or at all in 2022 due to an persistent ankle injury that turned out to be a benign tumor that required five surgeries, making only eight appearances in Greenville before being put on the shelf. He has a solid four-pitch mix, including a potential plus breaking ball, but has some effort in his delivery and he can struggle to repeat it late in games, which limits his ceiling. However, he has been throwing well in Portland so far and projects as an up-and-down swingman.

Photo Credit: Bobby Dalbec and Grant Gambrell by Kelly O'Connor

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