Bobby Dalbec is heading overseas for a fresh start, and he’s taking his power bat with him to one of Japan’s most storied franchises.
The Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball have signed the former Red Sox corner infielder to a deal reportedly worth over $1 million guaranteed. It’s a new chapter for Dalbec, who’s looking to reset his career after a rollercoaster ride through the majors and minors over the past few seasons.
Dalbec burst onto the MLB scene back in 2020, slugging his way into the spotlight with a .600 slugging percentage over just 92 plate appearances. That raw power was impossible to ignore, and it carried into 2021 when he launched 25 home runs for Boston. At the time, it looked like the Sox had found a long-term power threat at the corners.
But the swing-and-miss issues that had been part of his scouting report never really went away-and over the next three years, they became harder to overlook. From 2022 through 2024, Dalbec hit just .198 with a .269 on-base percentage and a .330 slugging mark.
He managed only 14 home runs across 175 games during that stretch, and his strikeout rate ballooned to nearly 38%, with 189 punchouts in 499 plate appearances. The walks (just 41) weren’t enough to balance things out.
Dalbec tried to work his way back in 2025, signing a minor league deal with the White Sox. He got a brief look in the majors-just seven games-before being designated for assignment in early May.
From there, he bounced between Triple-A stops with the Brewers and Royals, where he did show signs of life, hitting 20 homers in 93 combined games. The power never left.
It’s the contact that’s been the ongoing issue.
Now, at 30 years old, Dalbec is betting on himself in Japan. The Yomiuri Giants are a high-profile landing spot, and the NPB has become a proving ground for players looking to refine their game and potentially return to MLB with a new edge. For Dalbec, it’s a chance to reset, get regular at-bats, and maybe clean up some of the swing decisions that have held him back.
It’s worth noting he won’t be the only former Red Sox player in the Giants’ clubhouse. Bryan Mata, once a top pitching prospect in Boston’s system, also signed with Yomiuri earlier this month. There’s some familiarity there, and perhaps that helps ease the transition as Dalbec settles into a new league and culture.
There’s no question the power is still there. If Dalbec can make strides with his contact rate and cut down the strikeouts, a return to the big leagues down the road isn’t out of the question.
But first, he’ll need to prove he can be more than just a power bat. Japan offers him that opportunity-and maybe the clarity he’s been looking for.