Getting the honors for SotW this week is tonight’s catcher, Kyle Dahlberg. This is actually quite the unusual picture. I actually had focused on shortstop Rafael Rodriguez, who was on deck while Dahlberg was at the plate in a recent contest, but the photo came out so-so for Rodriguez and with this interesting pose for Dahlberg.
Like many of his teammates, Dahlberg was selected in last season’s June draft by the Orioles, coming out of the program at Texas Christian. As a 13th round pick, he was the second catcher drafted after fellow Shorebird Brandon Snyder. Because Snyder is out with a minor injury, Dahlberg is seeing the bulk of the backstop work right now.
Kyle is probably not a hitter who will have a high average. Last year in 54 games at rookie-level Aberdeen, he struggled to a .174 average with just 9 extra-base hits out of his total of 29 hits on the year. With Delmarva he’s improved the average somewhat, ballooning it up to .217 in his 15 games thus far (10 for 46.) More importantly, the hits have been well-struck – 7 of his 10 hits are for extra bases (4 doubles and 3 home runs), helping to explain his solid 9 RBI total. (Projected over a full 450 AB season, that’s almost 90 RBI, which would put him up among the league leaders.)
This will be a pivotal year for Dahlberg, as he was thought to be less of a prospect behind the plate than his teammate Snyder. But many’s the player who has taken their mid-round selection as a sign that they’ll have to work harder at their craft to impress. There’s still time for the young 23 year old to make his impression on the Orioles brass here with the Shorebirds, it’s just about seizing the opportunity.
