Starkville, Miss. -- Arizona Wildcats slugger Bobby Dalbec was drafted in the fourth round of the Major League Baseball Draft on Friday afternoon by the Boston Red Sox. Dalbec was the 118th overall selection.
Dalbec is the 241st player in Arizona history to be selected in the Major League Baseball Draft and 26th since 2011. He's the first Arizona player taken by the Red Sox since right-handed pitcher Kevin Guyette in 2005.
Dalbec has been a two-way star for the Wildcats the past three seasons. Offensively, Dalbec has played in 159 career games, slugging 23 home runs, 34 doubles and has 121 runs batted in to his credit. He's also scored 105 runs, has 168 career hits and has drawn 83 walks.
After his sophomore season in 2015, Dalbec was named a Second-Team All-American by Baseball America, along with earning All-Pac-12 honors and was named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team. He was also selected to the ABCA/Rawlings All-West Region Team. In 2014, he was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American.
Although he was drafted by the Red Sox as a hitter, Dalbec has also been a standout on the mound for the Wildcats the past three seasons. This year, as a junior, he leads the team with 25 appearances and has a 9-4 record to go with a 3.28 ERA and seven saves. For his career, Dalbec has an ERA of exactly 3.00 and a record of 15-16 to go with 14 saves and 133 strikeouts in 171 innings.
But it's Dalbec's power at the plate that excited Major League teams. Last season, Dalbec led the Pac-12 in home runs (15) and RBI (58). The 15 home runs are tied for 11th most in a single-season at Arizona. Dalbec also showed his power outside of Tucson. Last summer, he led the prestigious Cape Cod League with 12 home runs in just 27 games after playing for the USA Collegiate National Team earlier in the summer. He hit .315 for the summer and had 30 runs batted in.
The summer before, Dalbec hit five home runs in the Cape Cod League, tying for fifth most in the league.
