A rough September and an early playoff exit left the Red Sox staring right at the problem: the offense needs to be better next year. If Boston gets a healthy, productive Caleb Durbin for a full season, that would go a long way toward fixing it.
Durbin’s first year with the Red Sox looked a lot like his rookie season with the Milwaukee Brewers, and that matters. He finished his Brewers debut in third place in the National League Rookie of the Year race, then came to Boston and put together another steady statistical line: .248/.332/.378 with 25 doubles, a triple and 13 home runs in 153 games. With Milwaukee, he had hit .256/.334/.387 with 25 doubles and 11 homers over 136 games.
The numbers were similar, but the road to get there was not. Durbin opened the year in a brutal slump, hitting just .163/.241/.238 through May 24.
Once he broke out of it, though, the picture changed fast. From June 1 through the end of the season, he batted .279/.369/.424, and most of his power followed that surge.
He hit all but one of his 13 home runs in June or later, after his breakout, a sign he may be able to become more of a home run threat going forward.
The late-season slide came back in September, when he hit .217/.365/.304 over 22 games as much of Boston’s lineup faded with him. Durbin, though, had a clearer reason than most for the drop-off.
He played much of the second half with an injured pinky finger, and according to Tim Healey of The Boston Globe, he couldn’t straighten the finger for the final two months of the season. The Red Sox announced on October 11 that he underwent surgery to repair the pinky.
There are still plenty of reasons to think Durbin can keep moving forward offensively. He already showed he could climb out of an early-season hole after working with an outside hitting coach to get his swing right, and the results after that reset were obvious. Even with the uneven season, his trajectory points up.
He’s also turned himself into a more valuable defender than expected, which fits neatly with Boston’s embrace of a “run prevention” approach. On October 14, Durbin was nominated for his first career Gold Glove award at third base.
The Red Sox will still need to find home run help elsewhere, but Durbin’s profile keeps getting more appealing. If he keeps improving, he could become one of the most reliable hitters on the roster. Among the internal gains Boston can reasonably count on, his looks like one of the safest bets.
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Brewers Trade That Shocked Fans Looks Bigger Than Ever Now
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