Notes: Dalbec working on timing; Kiké's shift

BOSTON -- For Red Sox rookie first baseman Bobby Dalbec, the key to making his impressive power show up more often during games is to be on time.

Oh, he is always on time to the park. In fact, many hours early quite often.

What he’s trying to do is be on time with his swing. And to do that, he is working on syncing up his leg kick.

“To me, it’s all about timing with his leg kick. He’s a big guy,” said Red Sox hitting coach Tim Hyers. “His leg kick gets him in trouble or it helps him. I think he’s working to make it a little more compact and to make it more on time. When he’s on time, he’s got this special power, but pitchers, their deal is to disrupt timing.”

It has been a work in progress, but there’s been some positive developments of late. Dalbec had a key single and a hard RBI double off the Monster in Thursday’s memorable, 12-8 win over the Astros.

“It's timing,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “Timing is everything. It doesn’t matter if it’s Little League or college, Minor Leagues or the big league level, you’ve got to be on time. We live in an era where hitters, they get caught up in talking about mechanics.”

When Cora thinks about hitters being successful due to great timing and balance, he always mentions his former teammate Manny Ramirez.

“I always mention Manny, because that was kind of like the best example for us when we were here, a guy that will come in and hit at 10 in the morning and work on his craft and all that,” said Cora. “But then at 7:05, 7:10, he would say, ‘Just get there on time. If you’re on time, you're gonna see the ball, you're gonna recognize pitches, you're gonna make good swing decisions’.

“[Dalbec] felt like yesterday was the first time he was on time this season, and you saw the results. Hopefully, you know, he doesn't get caught up in the result, he stays with the process and keeps working on that and we can see him taking off.”

Dalbec has been working overtime in the pregame hours with Hyers.

“We’ve been in early work, we had the pitch machine, we had some high velo, we were trying to mix some stuff up with breaking balls and just trying to get him to have a better awareness of space,” Hyers said. “That’s kind of where we’re at, and it’s really difficult here in the Major Leagues where you’re facing some of the best pitchers in the world night after night and trying to make those adjustments.

“That’s what makes it difficult. He’s been a gamer. He’s worked his butt off. He’s kept a great attitude. That’s all you can expect from a young guy, being ready to work each day.”

If at first you don’t succeed …
Cora pulled the plug on the struggling Kiké Hernández as his leadoff hitter last week at Yankee Stadium, ending the veteran’s 39-game run in the top spot in the batting order.

But when nobody else was able to step up in the ensuing days, Hernández got a second chance on Thursday and responded with two doubles and a bases-loaded walk in the thrilling win over the Astros. He was back in there on Friday night against the Blue Jays.

It seems like Hernández might finally be getting back to being the line-drive machine the Red Sox saw in Spring Training.

“It feels that way. It feels like he’s making better swing decisions,” Cora said. “Yesterday, I think that walk, he was down 0-2, and there were some good pitches made by [Zack] Greinke and he took them. He’s been on time. He’s been recognizing pitches. And he’s been doing a good job going up the middle.”

E-Rod needs to adjust quicker
The reason Eduardo Rodriguez (5-4, 6.03 ERA) and Cora were disappointed with his latest sub-performance on Thursday is that he didn’t make the type of in-game adjustments necessary against a top team like Houston.

“I just talked to him a little bit ago, and the fact that he had a good changeup early on and they made adjustments, and he wasn’t able to make adjustments,” said Cora. “He’s frustrated because of that. We walked through a few at-bats, and he saw what I saw, but then he didn’t make the in-game adjustments.”

In the past, this could have been chalked up to a young player learning on the fly. But Rodriguez should be past that stage.

“He’s a veteran. He’s been around. And he knows,” said Cora. “Our information from yesterday, stuff-wise, it’s good. Stuff-wise, he’s really good. He’s where he’s supposed to be. Now, like I said before the game yesterday, it’s about taking that stuff and applying it to the game. I do believe he can do it, and he’s in a great spot. He’ll pitch Tuesday in Atlanta. Hopefully he can get his [first career] hit, too, and we get it over with and he can get a 'W' there.”

Sawamura good to go
Just 24 hours after Cora raised the possibility of reliever Hirokazu Sawamura going on the injured list due to right hip soreness, there was a much more encouraging update.

“He’s a go. He’s a full go. He’s ready to go,” said Cora. “Actually he was available yesterday, but obviously, the smart move was to give him one more day so he’s a full go.”

Sawamura has been a big weapon for the Red Sox in the mid- to late-innings, so this was a significant development.