Who’s he and the place did he come from?
Caleb Durbin is an infielder who performed faculty baseball at D-3 Washington College (in St. Louis) and was drafted by the Atlanta Braves within the 14th spherical of the 2021 draft. He was traded from Atlanta to the Yankees after the 2022 season for Lucas Luetge, after which once more to Milwaukee after the 2024 season as a part of a bundle that landed Devin Williams. A 12 months later, Durbin involves the Purple Sox from the Brewers, together with fellow infielders Anthony Siegler and Andruw Monesterio and the 67th draft choose (Comp B), in return for pitchers Kyle Harrison and Shane Drohan, and infielder David Hamilton.
It will depend on the place you’re setting your expectations. In case you’re searching for the middle-of-the-order energy bat that Craig Breslow confused was a top need on multiple occasions, you’re not going to seek out that with the 5’7”, 183 lb. Durbin.
What you will see that is somebody with an average-to-plus hit instrument, who could make the performs defensively at a number of positions, with loads of pace on the bases. Durbin slashed .256/.334/.387 in his rookie season, with 11 house runs and 18 stolen bases, which led to 3rd place in Rookie of the 12 months voting.
The ball is often put into play when Durbin is on the plate. He was considered one of solely 5 certified hitters in all of MLB who had lower than a ten% strikeout fee (9.9%), but additionally had only a twenty first percentile stroll fee (5.9%). On Monday, Breslow famous Durbin’s Air Pull%, which is nicely above common at 20.4%. For a right-handed hitter at Fenway, that’s by no means a nasty factor, each for house runs and for doubles.
Defensively, Durbin began 119 video games at third base, however simply three video games at second base for the Brewers in 2025. He was a +5 in Defensive Runs Saved at 3B, however was precisely in the midst of the vary with a “0” in Outs Above Common on Statcast. He may play shortstop in a pinch. With an emphasis on a workers crammed with groundball pitchers, Durbin needs to be a part of an enchancment on the defensive aspect in 2026.
TL;DR, simply give me his 2025 stats.
136 G, 506 PA, .256/.334/.387, 11 HR, 53 RBI, 60 R, 18-for-24 SB, 5.9 BB%, 9.9 Ok%, 105 wRC+, 2.6 fWAR
Present me a cool spotlight.
Right here’s a walk-off homer by Durbin in opposition to the Padres on June seventh of final 12 months. And, actually, what’s higher than a walk-off homer?
What’s he doing in his image up there?
He’s getting hit by a pitch, one thing that Durbin can do with the perfect of them. He led the Nationwide League with 24 HBPs a season in the past. Whereas which will look like a flukey stat, there may be an artwork to getting hit by a pitch. When you’ve got ever had a teammate who obtained hit by a ton of pitches and at all times discovered a strategy to make it appear like an accident, you understand what I’m speaking about. Durbin had double-digit HBPs in every of his three minor league seasons, in considerably fewer plate appearances.
The truth is, the Purple Sox have introduced the highest two in HBP over from the NL, as new first basemen Willson Contreras was hit by 23 pitches a 12 months in the past. Is it doable that this was intentional?
In Durbin’s case, as talked about earlier, his 5.9 BB% was within the backside quarter of the league. However what for those who embody his 4.7 HBP%? A “stroll fee” of 10.6% doesn’t sound so unhealthy, and it’s a better fee than Durbin strikes out at. Basically, hit batsmen occurred on 1.1% of the plate appearances in MLB in 2025, and Durbin was drilled at greater than 4X that fee.
What’s his function on the 2026 Purple Sox?
There have been no definitive solutions on day one from Purple Sox executives, nor Alex Cora. It looks like Durbin would slot in at both second or third base, with Marcelo Mayer taking part in on the different spot. Upon prospect commencement, the 6’3”, 188 lb. Mayer had a 60-grade arm on Baseball America, the place Durbin had a 50-grade arm. My greatest guess is that Mayer, with extra dimension and an even bigger arm, will play third base with Durbin beginning at second, a place that he performed nearly all of the time arising by the minor leagues. When left-handers are on the mound, Mayer might sit down in favor of second baseman Romy Gonzalez, which can slide Durbin over to 3rd base on these days. Roster Resource presently initiatives Durbin to hit seventh within the lineup behind Carlos Narvaez and forward of Mayer, at the very least in opposition to RHP.
