The Red Sox’s offseason swap with Milwaukee is looking a lot different now than it did earlier in the year.
What started as a deal that seemed to tilt heavily one way has settled into something far less lopsided. Boston’s compensatory pick from the trade was used on Owen Hull with the No. 67 overall selection, while the player side of the move has also started to shift.
Caleb Durbin has been surging since the beginning of June, and in that stretch he has led Boston in fWAR. His 140 wRC+ over that span is also among the team’s best marks, trailing only All-Star Willson Contreras and Connor Wong.
Kyle Harrison, on the other hand, has run into trouble in Milwaukee. He entered the All-Star break after posting a 5.34 ERA across his previous seven starts, and the slide has been even starker over his last six outings, when he put up a 6.15 ERA after opening the season with a 1.57 ERA in his first 11 starts.
The underlying numbers still show plenty to like. Harrison has a 3.04 xERA and a 29.6% strikeout rate during this stretch, but the bigger concern now is physical. He is also dealing with elbow soreness, which could make the situation more serious going forward.
Former Red Sox Kyle Harrison has come back to earth for the Brewers. He has a 6.15 ERA over his past six starts after posting a 1.57 ERA in his first 11 starts.
- Christopher Smith (@SmittyOnMLB) July 9, 2026
Boston’s side of the equation is getting a boost from something else, too: the pitching depth Craig Breslow has assembled. Even with Garrett Crochet spending most of the first half on the injured list, the rotation has still been a major strength, powered by Ranger Suarez, Sonny Gray, and Payton Tolle.
That depth has helped the Red Sox absorb a lot of damage, including injuries and a Brayan Bello meltdown. Harrison was supposed to be part of that foundation, and moving him along with Shane Drohan in a deal that brought back no pitchers was always a gamble. But the staff has held up, and that matters when you consider that Harrison had been carrying a 3.01 ERA before the trade’s fortunes began to change.
Durbin’s overall numbers still aren’t pretty. He owns an 87 wRC+ and an OPS below .700 on the season. Still, he’s at least back in respectable form, and his bat has become more valuable with Roman Anthony sidelined long-term and Jarren Duran completely collapsing.
Nobody is going to call this a Red Sox win. But it no longer looks like the Brewers have run away with it either, and after the way this story began, that’s a meaningful shift.
In Other News...
Red Sox Just Sent A Troubling Message About Catcher Depth
The Red Sox made a quiet but telling move this week by officially releasing Matt Thaiss, a catcher who had been stationed at Triple-A Worcester all season. Thaiss has been around the game long enough to know the churn of the back end of a roster, with major league stops already on his rsum with the Angels, White Sox and Rays.
For Boston, the decision also brings a little extra sting because Thaiss was once part of the organizations own pipeline, drafted by the club in 2013 before his path took him elsewhere and he reached the majors with Los Angeles in 2016. A roster opening helped force the issue, and while the move clears space, it also leaves the Red Sox with another reminder of how thin the catching picture can look when depth starts to get tested. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox May Already Have An Answer To Their Biggest Lineup Need
The Red Sox have spent enough time building up their pitching pipeline that it is starting to look like more than just organizational depth. Anthony Eyanson, Kyson Witherspoon, Marcus Phillips and Jake Bennett are among the arms giving Boston real options, and that surplus could matter if the club decides to chase the right-handed bat it has been eyeing before the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
Boston may not need to look far for a short-term answer, either. Jahmai Jones has already given the lineup a jolt of intrigue with the way he has hit at Fenway Park, even while his overall season line remains modest. If the Red Sox are weighing whether to spend prospect capital on a bigger trade, Jones has at least made the internal conversation a little more interesting. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Catching Prospect Suddenly Has Fans Asking If This Is Real
Ronald Rosarios bat is making noise at Double-A Portland, and it is coming at a time when the Red Sox are always paying close attention to anything that might deepen the catching picture. The 20-year-old prospect has shown a clear step forward in July, turning in a surge at the plate that stands out not just against his own earlier work this season, but against where his offensive game has been in recent years.
Rosarios development matters because catching prospects can change an organizations outlook fast if the hit tool starts to catch up with the defense. For Boston, that is the real intrigue here: a player who has long been viewed through the lens of projection is suddenly giving evaluators a reason to wonder whether the offensive progress is real, and whether it might be arriving sooner than expected. [Read more 🡒]