At Long Last, Caleb Durbin Has Arrived In Boston

[Old Red]

37 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

What does that have to do with saying its the "real question?"

No, hardly any players go two months that low. No Sox players is doing what he's been doing in June, either.

To me, Duran's .624 OPS on June 26th is more of "the killer," since he was batting 1-5 most of the season.

DUBin had a hard time getting above.100, and then a long time getting above.200, and in all that time the games were counting, and the Red Sox did a lot of losing. That’s all that matters.!

[mvp 78]

23 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Lots of damage was done to the W-L record in those two months, and DUBin was one of the many reasons why.

He's clearly not the only guy who played like dogdoo, but he was a prime example of how the Sox got to where they are. All the people running to say how great of a player he is now just rings hollow. It's reminiscent of all the times JBJ would have a really hot stretch and then go back to hitting like garbage for 2 months. Maybe that's fine for a CFer, but I'm not ok with that for my 3b. 

[Old Red]

26 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

He's clearly not the only guy who played like dogdoo, but he was a prime example of how the Sox got to where they are. All the people running to say how great of a player he is now just rings hollow. It's reminiscent of all the times JBJ would have a really hot stretch and then go back to hitting like garbage for 2 months. Maybe that's fine for a CFer, but I'm not ok with that for my 3b. 

I agree, and I doubt DUBins hot streak last as long as his slump.

[vegasbob]

5 minutes ago, Old Red said:

I agree, and I doubt DUBins hot streak last as long as his slump.

The guy is trying to get better , which I guess you could say about Crochet and Anthony, only in their cases, it is not happening. 

And Durbin shows an attitude that is different than Duran and Mayer's who specialize in self-flagellation as a cure for suckitude.

He is a long way from being any kind of great, just ascending to good enough to carry his weight on a better team .   But I do believe he is trying to get there, after trying the Red Sox Way at the plate.

[mvp 78]

6 minutes ago, vegasbob said:

And Durbin shows an attitude that is different than Duran and Mayer's who specialize in self-flagellation as a cure for suckitude.

Is that Mayer's problem as well? I hadn't noticed. 

[Hugh2]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

He's using both Teacherman (Judge) and Gradum (Narvaez's coaches). Hard to say who he is leaning on more, but Gradum is showing up prior to games to watch him hit batting practice while Teacherman is not. 

Ok, but Judges coach is the one who was just a college player.  Some of the best coaches weren't MLB players and many MLB players make horrible coaches. 

Having MLB experience just means you are better than 99.99% of baseball players.  

It's perfectly reasonable that you could only be better than 98% of players, not good enough for the bigs, but have a vast knowledge on human physiology, human performance, and how to teach and be a better coach than all those guys who played the game better than you. 

The ideal that you have to be a successful MLB player to be a great coach is a myth. 

[Hugh2]

The last 3 weeks Durbin in 13th in MLB in wRC+ and 11th in FWar.

That slow start still stings.  I yearn to see more, but I'm loving the turn around. 

[Hugh2]

24 minutes ago, Old Red said:

I agree, and I doubt DUBins hot streak last as long as his slump.

Here and now....for the past month he's been one of baseballs best hitters.  Here and now he's a stud. 

[moonslav59]

10 minutes ago, vegasbob said:

The guy is trying to get better , which I guess you could say about Crochet and Anthony, only in their cases, it is not happening. 

And Durbin shows an attitude that is different than Duran and Mayer's who specialize in self-flagellation as a cure for suckitude.

He is a long way from being any kind of great, just ascending to good enough to carry his weight on a better team .   But I do believe he is trying to get there, after trying the Red Sox Way at the plate.

It seems like some just can't enjoy a player who is improving. They assume the worst.

He did take a long time to get on track, and that hurt the team badly, as he was being played daily. This is his second year, after having a decent rookie year. In today's game, having a .700 career OPS after 700+ PAs is not all that scary.

His path in 2026 has not always been up, but mostly it has. Here are his 10 game marks BA/OPS:

.121/.323

.162/.495 Up

.176/.528 Up

.165/.486 Down

.174/.505 Up (but still below 20 games before)

.220/.641 Big Up

After 72 games, he's at .224/.660, thanks largely to last night's game.

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, Hugh2 said:

The last 3 weeks Durbin in 13th in MLB in wRC+ and 11th in FWar.

That slow start still stings.  I yearn to see more, but I'm loving the turn around. 

While 3 weeks is a SSS, if you take every player's best 3 weeks away, you'd see some stunning differentials.

[Old Red]

10 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Here and now....for the past month he's been one of baseballs best hitters.  Here and now he's a stud. 

👏.

[Behindenemylines]

1 hour ago, Hugh2 said:

The last 3 weeks Durbin in 13th in MLB in wRC+ and 11th in FWar.

That slow start still stings.  I yearn to see more, but I'm loving the turn around. 

Agree! He has been the most consistent bat over the last few weeks, but I have to see more. Last night's home run to put the Sox ahead would not have happened a month ago. 

[Nick]

On 6/25/2026 at 8:56 AM, Bellhorn04 said:

Nice that he has turned it around.  Sad that the guy whose bat we're most excited about still only has a .636 OPS - 83 points below major league average.

.660 vs Duran's .624 as of 6/26 

[Nick]

He must be a smart guy. Attended U of Washington at St Louis, a DIII school. I bet not many major leaguers come out of there.

Also by coming in third in the NL Rookie of the Year balloting, he did not gain a year of service time in 2025. Thus this is technically his first year under team control.. He will be a Sox through his age 32, 2032. 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Behindenemylines said:

Agree! He has been the most consistent bat over the last few weeks, but I have to see more. Last night's home run to put the Sox ahead would not have happened a month ago. 

It's closer to 2 strong weeks than 3, but I'll take it.

He was at .053 after 5 games.

.595 from game 6 to June 9th.

.697 in the 18 games before June 10th.

It's been a pretty steady improvement, with a couple glitches along the way.

[JoeBrady]

5 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

No, hardly any players go two months that low. No Sox players is doing what he's been doing in June, either.

Durbin had a particularly rough start, but plenty of players have rough stretches.  I think Raleigh had a 0-38 stretch at one point.  Lots of guys alternate between MVP stats and AAA stats, and often more than once a season.

[Bellhorn04]

Durbin went for outside help with his hitting and it seems to have worked wonders.

🤔

 

[JoeBrady]

3 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Durbin had a particularly rough start, but plenty of players have rough stretches.  I think Raleigh had a 0-38 stretch at one point.  Lots of guys alternate between MVP stats and AAA stats, and often more than once a season.

Swanson had a .426 OPS for a 124-AB stretch.  And 4 HRs, 4 SBs, and 18 RBIs in his last 7 games.  Chapman went from ice-cold, to red-hot, to a 2-28 stretch.  I think this is more the rule than the exception in baseball.

[moonslav59]

I remember JBJ getting roasted alive for his long slumps and shorter white hot streaks.

[JoeBrady]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I remember JBJ getting roasted alive for his long slumps and shorter white hot streaks.

Just for fun, HS Kim is 5-65 with no XBH this year.

[vegasbob]

2 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Just for fun, HS Kim is 5-65 with no XBH this year.

So you're saying he is available to a pitching/defensive  type team

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

10 hours ago, Old Red said:

DUBin had a hard time getting above.100, and then a long time getting above.200, and in all that time the games were counting, and the Red Sox did a lot of losing. That’s all that matters.!

Don't you remember how long it took Pedey to get going in the 2007 season. Or didn't that matter?

[Old Red]

3 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Don't you remember how long it took Pedey to get going in the 2007 season. Or didn't that matter?

Yes I remember, but I also remember the Red Sox had a pretty good team back then, and it didn’t matter if Pedey got off to a bad start. Whole different story this year, and it DID matter that DUBin got off to such a horrible start. Completely different players, and completely different situations.🤭

[notin]

9 hours ago, Hugh2 said:

Ok, but Judges coach is the one who was just a college player.  Some of the best coaches weren't MLB players and many MLB players make horrible coaches. 

Having MLB experience just means you are better than 99.99% of baseball players.  

It's perfectly reasonable that you could only be better than 98% of players, not good enough for the bigs, but have a vast knowledge on human physiology, human performance, and how to teach and be a better coach than all those guys who played the game better than you. 

The ideal that you have to be a successful MLB player to be a great coach is a myth. 

So you’re saying Bill Belichick wasn’t a good football player?  

[notin]

19 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Yes I remember, but I also remember the Red Sox had a pretty good team back then, and it didn’t matter if Pedey got off to a bad start. Whole different story this year, and it DID matter that DUBin got off to such a horrible start. Completely different players, and completely different situations.🤭

So Durbin was supposed to carry the team this year?

[Old Red]

10 minutes ago, notin said:

So Durbin was supposed to carry the team this year?

NNN. Huh? As I said in a previous post today that DUBin was one of many reasons the team got off to the bad record they did. I repeat one of Many reasons.🙈

[moonslav59]

Durbin is up to .670, now.

Even with a pretty large sample size, he's jumped from .557 on June 16th!

9 games and a 113 jump.

[moonslav59]

19 minutes ago, notin said:

So Durbin was supposed to carry the team this year?

If the team is doing well, it's okay to suck.

[Hugh2]

11 hours ago, notin said:

So you’re saying Bill Belichick wasn’t a good football player?  

 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.

[notin]

22 hours ago, Old Red said:

I agree, and I doubt DUBins hot streak last as long as his slump.

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…