At Long Last, Caleb Durbin Has Arrived In Boston

[notin]

3 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

 Football is even a stronger example of not needing to be a good player to be a coach.  Execution is more dependent on natural physical ability.

Most of the legendary winningest managers in MLB were not great players.  Certainly some were.  Joe Torre was arguably a Hall of Fame caliber player before inarguably becoming a Hall of Fame caliber manager.  But no one is making the case for, say, Terry Francona making the Hall as a player…

[Hugh2]

4 minutes ago, notin said:

Most of the legendary winningest managers in MLB were not great players.  Certainly some were.  Joe Torre was arguably a Hall of Fame caliber player before inarguably becoming a Hall of Fame caliber manager.  But no one is making the case for, say, Terry Francona making the Hall as a player…

Yes, the point I was trying to make was someone doesn’t have to be physically gifted enough as an athlete to train someone else to be a better player.  
 

you can teach technique, mechanics, motion, a swing, a delivery etc etc.  you can’t teach 6’3” you can’t teach being born with a ton of fast twitch muscle fibers.  
 

you obviously can’t be a stiff, but some Of the best coaches in all sports have personally had very pedestrian careers as athletes themselves.  I do think playing is paramount, and knowing your craft, but not having the stuff to play at the highest level is in no way an indictment on someone’s ability to teach. 

[notin]

7 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Yes, the point I was trying to make was someone doesn’t have to be physically gifted enough as an athlete to train someone else to be a better player.  
 

you can teach technique, mechanics, motion, a swing, a delivery etc etc.  you can’t teach 6’3” you can’t teach being born with a ton of fast twitch muscle fibers.  
 

you obviously can’t be a stiff, but some Of the best coaches in all sports have personally had very pedestrian careers as athletes themselves.  I do think playing is paramount, and knowing your craft, but not having the stuff to play at the highest level is in no way an indictment on someone’s ability to teach. 

If anything, the best players probably in many cases make awful coaches.  If your hitting was based on having elite batspeed, for example, how exactly do you teach that?  It’s like thinking Jacob Misiorowski would be a top tier pitching coach by advising his staff “Just throw the ball 105 mph.”…

[moonslav59]

36 minutes ago, notin said:

But once his hot streak ends, it’s not like he suddenly reverts to his slump.  He’ll fall somewhere into the giant grey area in between.

He did this last year, too, when his OPS was just over .500 at the end of May, and then was a .775 hitter the rest of the way.  That wouldn’t surprise me if he did it again…

Yes, he was at .501 on 5/20/25 and then .618 by 5/31/25!

He's at .718 over the past 365 days. (.703 Career)

Career:

.707 v R and .693 v L

.691 first half and .730 second half (smaller sample)

,588 April and .553 May

.886 June

.789 July, .740 August, .726 September

.779 RISP (.720 w 2 outs)

.749 Men on Base

.813 Late & Close

.771 High Leverage> .733 Medium & .647 Low Leverage

.595 Fenway

[notin]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Yes, he was at .501 on 5/20/25 and then .618 by 5/31/25!

He's at .718 over the past 365 days. (.703 Career)

Career:

.707 v R and .693 v L

.691 first half and .730 second half (smaller sample)

,588 April and .553 May

.886 June

.789 July, .740 August, .726 September

.779 RISP (.720 w 2 outs)

.749 Men on Base

.813 Late & Close

.771 High Leverage> .733 Medium & .647 Low Leverage

.595 Fenway

Durbin’s not a stud, but at a bare minimum he’s a pretty good wingman…

[moonslav59]

21 minutes ago, notin said:

Durbin’s not a stud, but at a bare minimum he’s a pretty good wingman…

I think he has the potential to be a .750 to .775 batter and very good to great defensive 3Bman/2Bman.

More likely he'll hit near .700 to .740.

[JoeBrady]

4 hours ago, notin said:

But once his hot streak ends, it’s not like he suddenly reverts to his slump.  He’ll fall somewhere into the giant grey area in between.

He did this last year, too, when his OPS was just over .500 at the end of May, and then was a .775 hitter the rest of the way.  That wouldn’t surprise me if he did it again…

RS fans need to get use to the idea of hot streaks and cold streaks.  It happens to everyone.

[JoeBrady]

4 hours ago, notin said:

Most of the legendary winningest managers in MLB were not great players.  Certainly some were.  Joe Torre was arguably a Hall of Fame caliber player before inarguably becoming a Hall of Fame caliber manager.  But no one is making the case for, say, Terry Francona making the Hall as a player…

Francona was a good hitter when he came up, just no power.

[notin]

Just now, JoeBrady said:

Francona was a good hitter when he came up, just no power.

And if he ever gets to Cooperstown it won’t be because of his bat…

[JoeBrady]

Just now, notin said:

And if he ever gets to Cooperstown it won’t be because of his bat…

The overall #22 pick in the draft.  I still have some of his rookie cards.