Nippon Professional Baseball’s Yomiuri Giants are signing corner infielder Bobby Dalbec, per Hochi News.
Dalbec, 30, heads to Japan with 338 games of Major League experience on his resume. A Seattle native, he broke out with the Boston Red Sox during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, crushing eight home runs in just 23 games with a .959 OPS. He followed that up in 2021 by setting career highs with 25 homers while posting a solid .792 OPS and 107 OPS+.
That season marked the high point of Dalbec’s production, however. From 2022-24, his bat regressed significantly, as he combined for a .198/.269/.330 slash line with just 14 home runs and a strikeout rate approaching 40%. After becoming a free agent, Dalbec signed a minor league pact with the Chicago White Sox in 2025, but appeared in just seven games before being designated for assignment and subsequently spending time in the Milwaukee Brewers and Kansas City Royals organizations.
While the MLB opportunities were limited, Dalbec’s power continued to show up at the Triple-A level. Across 105 games in 2025, he slashed .269/.349/.525 with 24 long balls, though he still struck out 34% of the time. Given that swing-and-miss is an inherent part of his profile, his success will hinge on whether he can consistently deliver 20-plus home run pop.
The 2016 fourth-round pick now joins a Giants team that is aiming to reclaim its place atop the Central League after winning the pennant in 2024 and slipping to third in 2025. With Kazuma Okamoto expected to depart for MLB in the coming weeks, Dalbec profiles as a natural infield replacement and an immediate source of thump in the order alongside the likes of Trey Cabbage, Richard Sunagawa, and Yoshihiro Maru.
Dalbec also becomes part of a broader influx of former top prospects, joining Forrest Whitley and Bryan Mata as new foreign additions to the Tokyo-based franchise this offseason.
Photo: Bobby Dalbec (31) walks back to the dugout after striking out during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
